Dreamless Wake
by rebellion101
Summary: Cammie falls asleep one night and in one morning everything has changed. How will she react to her new life? More Zammie in this story than in my other one.
1. Morning Nightmare

Dreamless Wake

Summary: Cammie falls asleep one night and in one morning everything has changed. How will she react to her new life? More Zammie in this story than in my other one.

Chapter 1: Morning Nightmare

"Goodnight," I called out into the dark hallway before I shut my door.

Tomorrow I will be back on a plane heading over for another year at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women leaving behind my grandparents, the ranch in Nebraska, and all the simpler things in life. Not that I'm not excited to go back to the academy. Don't get me wrong I'm thrilled. It's just I wish I could have a few more days of what I consider relaxation. Because, to be truthful, working on the ranch is a lot less demanding then learning back at the academy. This of course sounds strange when you word it like that.

I take a quick look around the room one last time, my eyes well adjusted to the darkness. When I'm satisfied that everything is where it should be and I have it burned into my memory I let my eyelids fall. Hearing the wind swaying the branches and the footsteps of the animals in the barn is what I fall asleep to. The last normal thing I hear.

* * *

Waking up, however, turns into a nightmare. I no longer hear the animals out in the barn, but instead hear the sounds of traffic. Looking around I no longer see the room I had burned into my memory the one I fell asleep in—but apparently not the one I'm waking up to.

This room is certainly not suited for a ranch, but for an apartment. Was I taken somehow during the night?

The sheets around me felt weird they were…too close. Lifting them up I realized why I wasn't wearing any clothes. _God, oh God, what happened, how did this happened! I was supposed to be a good spy._

There was a loud honk that came outside echoing throughout the room. Still clinging the comforter tightly to my body I turn around. I see curtains over a window and quietly with shaky fingers I pull back the curtain. It wasn't what I expected to see because it was normal. A clear, clean window with no bars it was a simple, normal window. Looking out I see traffic, cars, cabs, people walking down the sidewalk as if everything is normal.

But how can this be normal when I don't remember coming here. Wherever here is? How can it be normal when nothing was how it was last night and I no longer have clothes on my body? I would suspect kidnapping, but taking me here, a public area that appears not to securely locked down, it wouldn't seem very bright. Although, the real reason I wouldn't want the kidnapping to be true is I would think, hope I would have woken up especially when my clothes were being taken off. Even if I was only able to fight back for a few seconds that would have been fine. Just…something, that wouldn't make me appear this utterly helpless little girl.

Scanning the streets to see if I can get any hint of where I could possibly be, or even why something catches my eyes. Something that caught the sun's rays. As I look down to my left hand to my ring finger I see an engagement ring. Plain and simple. And as much as I hate to admit it I lose all control I have, all I need to be a spy. I let my face reveal emotions mostly of complete surprise for eight seconds, eight long seconds, before I can put on an unemotional mask back up. But, hey, let's see you wake up one day with no clothes, no idea where you are, and an engagement ring on your finger you never agreed to and you try to stay calm even for a minute.

Carefully, checking the floor, checking the whole room, I take one step out of the bed keeping a cover tightly around me as I drag it off the bed. If I'm going to figure out what's happened I might as well start looking around and at the same time try to find a pair of clothes. Quietly I walk out of the unfamiliar bedroom, down the still unfamiliar hall, and stop right in front of a mirror. The unemotional mask has nothing left to do but fall.

I touch my face, just to make sure it's real that I'm not seeing things. Because while I can still see it's my face, my dad's green eyes, and my mom's nose it's still changed. I take a step back and examine myself and can only conclude that I have aged, drastically. I no longer look sixteen, but now look like I'm twenty. In my mind I can only hear _**How did this HAPPEN! How long have I been ASLEEP?**_

Shaking my head back and forth I figure I know what the only logical answer to this is. I haven't woken up yet. I'm still physically asleep in my grandparents' ranch. This is only a dream and nothing more. I mean…it can't be real. It can't be like the movie Thirteen Going On To Thirty because one I didn't wish for this and two it was a movie. This can't actually happen in real life.

Then the panic really set in when I heard the voice.

"Oh…you're up."

_It has to be a dream!!!_

**A/N: Is it a dream? Is it real? You decide. Okay, now review, if you ever want do want to find out for sure who is the mystery voice and what really has happened to Cammie. Review and this time you'll receive a sneak peak of the next chapter…Wow have I really been updating and posting a lot this month, it feels like it.**

**Note: This will replace Back to Basics and I'll be deleting that story sometime next week. And would you rather me update The Journal That Revealed It All with a fairly short chapter or wait longer for a longer chapter?**


	2. Believe It or Not

**A/N: Well I wasn't planning on updating this early, but I'm in a good mood, an extremely good mood with school having been closed today an early no homework weekend. Almost a foot of snow in February in Texas this is very exciting and pleasing for me. So I present the second chapter of Dreamless Wake.**

Chapter 2: Believe It or Not

Zach…Zachary Goode…age twentyish.

He was watching me while leaning against the corner on the left side of me. A towel was draped across his neck and his hair was dripping wet from a recent shower, probably. He had on a loose white shirt, dark jeans, and a gold wedding band. His eyes were heavily guarded and he was waiting for…something.

I took a step back towards the wall, farther away from him. _Relax Cameron this is only a dream, even if it does feel real._

But dream or no dream I was still standing in a room wearing only a light, really light, sheet with Zachary Goode watching me closely, too closely.

"STAY BACK!" I shout at him. Because really what else is there to say. One hand is reaching behind me feeling the vase I had seen only moments before. It was my only weapon and it was all I needed.

There was hurt in Zach's eyes that made me falter on grasping the vase. He looked…well, I never thought I would see that look from Zachary Goode, from any guy really. A lump caught in my throat that I couldn't help.

Then he laughed, but it wasn't a normal laugh it was a pathetic sounding laugh. "Well, we knew it would be bad and we knew it would be coming." He kept his eyes on me as he ran a hand through his glistening hair.

"What are you talking about?" I ask keeping a tight grip on the sheet and vase. My voice stays firm and tough and I try to keep from revealing how helpless I feel at the moment.

He takes in a deep breath. "Cammie you need to put down the vase and then I'll tell you exactly what is happening." He took a few steps forward.

I flash the vase in front of me. I wasn't about to let the vase go even when it was Zach, older Zach. Actually I wasn't going to let this vase go because this was Zach, I had no clothes on, and I had no clue where I was and what was going on.

_It's a dream. You can't hurt anyone in a dream. He can't hurt you. Just try to wake up. This isn't real._

"Do not come any closer, _Zach_, or I swear I'll knock you out with it. Don't test me," I warn him through gritted teeth. I try to look tough and not vulnerable, which was hard considering I was only in a sheet that I was gripping onto for dear life.

"Cammie," Zach said, dropping his voice an octave. "Cammie, please place the vase back down. It's only me." I shake my head still he takes another step forward. "You don't want to do this Cammie. You're just confused and…scared." He takes another step. "All I want to do is talk. I can explain ever…"

I don't let him finish he's already taken too many steps. He had been trying to distract me and had done a poor job at it.

I swing the vase at him with full force. The vase smashes into pieces against the wall as he amazingly dodges. I expect to see him mad, angry but his face remains calm. And now he's closer to me than ever. I take another swing at him with a bare fist which this time he isn't able to miss and make a dash for the room he came out of and just as I enter I freeze.

Pictures. Pictures of me and him and our friends. Pictures from graduation. Pictures that turn everything upside down but one in particular.

One that was placed directly on the mantle over the fireplace that is a picture of a beautiful wedding with a familiar bride and groom. _This can't be this has to be a dream._

"I should have anticipated that," I heard Zach say from behind me. I tense because I can feel his breath on the back of my neck. _How did I not hear him? How was I not paying attention? _"Cam, I know that this makes no sense to you and that you're only confused and frightened. But listen to me I'm not going to hurt you. I am your husband , this is _our_ home, and if you let me I can tell you exactly why you can't remember anything for the last seven years."

_Seven years. Twenty-four._

I turn around to face him hands clutched in tight fists. He looks calm and patient and waits for me to respond. "I'm…your saying I'm twenty-four." He nods. "And that we're married and live here together." He nods again. "Then why am I only wearing an engagement ring and don't give me an excuse saying that two wedding bands were too expensive."

It was an odd thing to state but it seems to put a hole in what he is saying, a hole that might tear his story to pieces which was what I wanted desperately. Only he smiles and takes my left hand that's clutched to my side before I can react.

"They took it," he said as a simple fact starring down at the one engagement ring. "I mean, the director will say it's because you lost it on the mission, but that's a lie. You told me it was a lie when you still could." He was shaking his head at the thought.

"A lie?" I ask. "The director?" An uncontrollable shiver goes up my spine and I forget all about Zach holding my hand.

"Yes, the director, Mr. Jacobson." He says the name viciously and a dark look passes across his face. It's gone as soon as he looks at me it's replaced with a much cooler, calmer look. "He's the reason why you're in this state. He's the reason your memory of the last seven years is gone."

Maybe this isn't a dream; maybe what Zach is saying is true. It doesn't seem to be a lie when I look into his eyes. His caring…No, I can't think like that. I cannot allow myself to think like that this could all be a trap he set up.

The pictures, all the pictures could be photo shopped. I've seen them do that before. And Zach…Zach could be the reason I don't remember anything. Seven years may have gone by that I don't remember and it's all because of him because he doesn't want me to remember for a reason.

He drops my hand. "I know you don't believe me. I can tell by the look in your eyes, but I have something to show you and maybe it will help you believe me." He walked past me towards the television in the room.

This was my chance, my perfect chance to run. His back was turned and he was completely vulnerable. I could really knock him out this time.

But, no, I stood there I just stood there too shocked to do anything. Only able to move once he was back on his feet.

He had placed a video in the DVR and was pressing play, stepping away from the television in the process.

The next image I saw was me, looking the same age I did at the moment, starring straight at the screen.

"Hi…well, hi myself. Gosh, this is really weird," I start off nervously and laugh awkwardly to fill in space. "Well if Zach has put this in it means either I'm being a good spy and not believing a word he says or that I've tied him up and threatening to kill him and this is his last resort."

"That is not going to happen," a voice, Zach's voice, replies in response on the tape.

I nod, looking smug. "Hmm, you hope because if the second happens then you're in trouble. A spy who hasn't even graduated high school is taking you down."

"A spy that doesn't have the memory."

"Right," I agree looking more somber instead of smug. "Which is exactly why I'm making this. Cammie, myself you have to trust in what Zach,"-a smile passes across my face-, "has to tell you. What I can say right now is that you cannot under any circumstances trust the director, Mr. Jacobson, or for that matter anyone who works close to him. Whatever comes from his mouth is an outright lie. He'll try to cover everything up, which is how you, I, ended up in this situation. I knew too much, but luckily I'm too valuable of a spy so I'm losing only the memory that puts them at risk instead of my life. The problem they over-looked was that I've been able to get to my friends first before I'm about to forget everything."

Noises sounded from a hall somewhat close by as my attention is inverted.

"Which is all I can say and I need to get back before they realize I'm gone." I turn to look back at the camera but it seems I'm looking past it or maybe over it. "I need to go, Zach, before I'm not the only one who has to worry about this."

The image on the screen starts to shake as the camera is set down, slanted on its side.

Zach appears in front taking a seat down next to me on the couch. "Are you sure you have to stay here?" he asks.

I'm nodding vaguely, tears in my eye. "I'm not going to remember you by tomorrow, not in the way I do now. I don't see how this is going to work out."

"Hey, Cammie, look at me." His voice is forceful but gentle. He tilts my chin up with one finger. "I'm not leaving you. It will work out."

"_Zach_." My voice sounds hoarse and raw. Suddenly I have the strong urgency not to watch, it seems all too personal even if it is me. "I'm going to lose so much of my memory. I'm not going to be in love with you. Everything you've done is going to be gone in my mind. You're going to be on your own. I won't be there anymore."

"Don't say that, it's a lie." Zach's voice takes on an edge I haven't heard before. "You may forget everything but you will still be there. Even if it isn't seven years, if it turns into your whole life, you will still be there. You'll act different, you'll think different but it will still be you." Tears stream down my face as I break into a smile. "I'm in love with you, Cammie, you. I'll make this work even by myself and even if I have to I'll make you fall in love with me all over again. It will work out I'll make sure of it." He sounds and looks determined.

"Good luck with that, you know how stubborn I can get."

Zach gave off a dramatic eye roll. "Do I ever."

I slap him lightly across the shoulder. There's silence only starring now as voices float from the outside. These sound far away though. Soon we're kissing and it becomes all too strange to watch that I look down at my feet.

"Maybe…maybe I can get out tonight." I look back up to the screen to see that we're mere inches from each other faces.

"You can?" Zach asks his voice sounding cheerful.

I lean back taking in a long look at him, nodding. "But you have to make sure I get here in time Zach. It's your responsibility because…well, I won't remember." The far away sound doesn't sound so far away any longer. My shoulders hunch and I sit up taller, eyes wide and alert. "I have to go. I'll come back when I can, but if this is going to work…"

"I'll have to get you back in time." We're both standing and then we're both disappearing from the screen going in opposite directions. The television becomes blank.

My legs don't feel solid anymore, the room spins around me. I practically fall on top of the nearby coffee table. My breathing becomes hitched.

Zach has come around me looking at me concerned.

"I believe you…I think I believe you."

His fingers graze my cheek and I feel heat coming into them before I can stop it. "I was hoping you would, but I guess it will take more time." He looks down seeming to take notice at my lack of clothes. I hold the sheets tighter. "I can show you your closet now…and the bathroom." He holds out his hand for me to stand and the strangest, outrageous thought pops into my head.

Madame Dabney would be proud.

**A/N: Was it good? Did you hate it? Confusion? Shock? Review.**


	3. Drive Out

Chapter 3: Drive Out

Zach hands me an outfit, an outfit I had been wearing on the screen, an outfit that need to be thrown in the laundry. He left me in the bathroom to get dressed quickly. We, apparently, were running late.

I did dress in under two minutes right after I searched the entire room for bugs of any kinds. I could find zero.

Once I was dressed he took hold of the sheet I had been carrying around and threw it back on the bed. Looking back at me he said, "We have to hurry if we're going to get you back in time. I let you sleep in too late."

He was already heading for the door. "Wait, wait, where are my friends?"

"I'll explain in the car Cameron. We need to leave." He was out the door, leaving it wide open for me.

Maybe this is another trap. Maybe there are twenty gunmen out there. Maybe going to wherever he was taking me was the real trap.

Because while I told him I might believe him didn't mean that I trusted him and in a spy's life there's a distinct difference between the two.

Cautiously looking out both ways with no sign of trouble I walk out. I shut the door behind me and notice that I don't have a clue what happened to Zach.

"Cameron, dear?" someone calls out from another doorway. "Oh it's so good to see you again. You were away for so long." An elderly, friendly looking woman walks out into the hall. She has on a sunhat and looks ready to be going out somewhere, somewhere with a garden. "Are you feeling alright?" she asks, concern etching her forehead.

I don't know how to respond. Luckily Zach has reappeared not looking too thrilled to see me standing here.

"Hello, Mrs. Huffington." He nods in her direction and she returns the nod back. "Cameron and I were just leaving, busy day today."

"Oh I bet," she replies, smiles, and winks at me. It wasn't subtle at all and Zach gives me a look as if I would know what it meant as if I remembered suddenly. "Well I won't keep you two here if you need to go somewhere just don't forget about me."

"We won't. How can we," Zach replies. Although he seemed to be dying to say: How can you ever let us?

He's already starting to take me down the hall with one hand gripped to my arm like a vice. "Wait," I tell him which he unhappily complies. I turned back to Mrs. Huffington. Keeping my voice relatively low I ask, "Is he my husband?"

The woman looks at me not believing I just asked that. "Yes, dear, are you sure you're alright? Did you hit your head?" She was starting to prattle off and I realized exactly what I just started.

"You know, Mrs. Huffington, I think your right. I think Cameron may have accidently hit her head last night." He places his hands on both my arms and takes a look at me, my head more specifically, as if examining me. "We should probably go see the doctor, _right _now, and make sure everything is alright so we don't _waste_ valuable time." He looks me directly in the eye when he says that. He isn't happy at all on how long this was taking.

"Well, yes, that would be a good idea. Do you know how many people die from head injuries…" _This woman wasn't going to stop talking, was she?_

Zach seemed to be thinking the same thing I was as he nodded his head with a tight smile. Then when he could, he threw in, "Yes I think we get too rough now for sure since Cameron has hit head against the headboard."

I stare at him hard and wide-eyed while Mrs. Huffington is no longer able to talk, no longer able to look at us. "Oh, I see," she mumbles a blush slowly rising.

"We'll see you later Mrs. Huffington," Zach says taking the opportunity to drag me off.

We were walking down an empty hall fast pace. Well, actually, it was more like Zach pulling me and I letting him for the moment.

"You weren't lying were you?" I ask him which he doesn't respond. "Was that…God, was that why I had no clothes on?" It was a question more for myself.

He looked at me sheepishly. "Why do you think you were here in the first place when you would have to return so soon?" I shake my head trying to keep myself from blushing. "We knew you weren't going to remember anything this morning Cameron. It was our last night where you still had your memory." He let go of my arm to look ahead of us. "One night we didn't think through entirely well." He motioned me to follow and soon we ended up in a parking lot.

Zach already had his car keys out and was hitting the unlock button. "Get in," he said while stepping in himself.

I took a look around. I could run, but where on earth would I go and then with the way Zach was looking at me it was more of a _I dare, I just dare you to try and run_. Yeah, he wouldn't let me go that easily. So instead of making a break for it I step into the car.

Soon he was driving off while I was sitting in the passenger seat.

"My friends?" I asked breaking the silence.

"Macey was just sent off on a short mission. Liz is on vacation leave this week, at home. And Bex…" He trailed off. "Damn it Bex." His hands gripped the steering wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white.

"What? What about Bex?" Panic sets in my voice while Zach shakes his head.

"She's somewhere in the Middle East and has been for almost a year. She doesn't know what has been going on here. She won't have a clue." He looks over at me. "We'll have to try and get to her before they do. Although she won't want to believe us not when..."

The sound of gun fire broke out.

"Get down, don't let them see you," he told me while keeping an eye out. Another shot came and this time went right through the back of his rear window. "Guess I should have expected they would try to kill me soon."

"Why? Who? Zach what is going on!?" I ask refusing to budge even when Zach was giving me a stern look.

"It's the director ordering me dead. I was the closest too you, I lived with you, and they probably worry that I also know too much. Which, of course, they're right and now that you don't remember anything they won't have to worry about you backfiring on them." He took a quick right turn and seemed to have just barely missed a bullet.

"But…they're going to kill you while they only erased my memory."

He nodded taking a quick glance at me. "Two losses of memories would be too suspicious. Of course death on the streets by gunfire would be instant foul play, but being a spy that is a pretty high risk from any enemy which luckily for them I happen to have a lot." With that and another bullet flying through the window I lowered myself to the car's floor.

It took several minutes with a lot of illegal driving, but the gunfire eventually died down. I didn't move where I was kneeling not willing to take a chance. Only ten minutes and forty-three seconds more of a wait before the car pulled to a complete stop.

I sat up and looked around to see we were in the back way of a large, historic presence type building. The walls were lined with dark, worn out bricks and the few windows on this side were high above near the slanted roof.

"Cameron," Zach called to me. I turned around to look at him. He was holding tightly to a paper that looked like a drawn out map. He had a very serious, very intent look on his face. "I have an assignment for you. Do you think you can handle it?" The corner of his lip turned slightly upwards. It wasn't high enough to show his whole smirk, more a hinting of it.

My eyes narrowed at him. "I'm listening."

**A/N: Want to make me smile on my birthday? A review, even a simple one, would be nice.**


	4. Meet Your Job

Chapter 4: Meet Your Job

After a twenty-three minute in-depth explanation of what I needed to do and know I was ready to enter the building. The question was did I want to.

"I'll be here to pick you up soon. I'm not leaving you, not by a long shot." He was serious I could tell, but still it all seemed too strange for me.

I looked back at the rearview window straight at the bullet hole that was left in the glass. "Yeah Zach, I'm sure." My tone was sarcastic. I looked back at the building I had to enter and had a very unsettling feeling about it in my gut. "Why would I even want to take a step in there?"

"Because if you don't, and you don't go in quickly, worse things are going to happen. Remember it's not just you, Cam, who's at stake right now." Zach's voice was soothing and calm. A lot calmer then it should be considering he had just been shot at in a car chase. He placed a hand gently on my shoulder and I turned back to him instantly. "Gallagher Girl, you can do this and you're going to be fine. I won't let them keep you for much longer. Just do what they say and act confused, alright?" I bit my lip, feeling uneasy about all this. _It could be a trap_. "I'll take you to see Macey or Liz afterwards, if you want."

_Macey. Elizabeth._

I nodded already opening the car door and getting ready to walk out. I added in a quick breath, "If anything goes wrong you're the first one I'm coming after, Goode." In a swift motion I was out of the car and against the wall of the building. Half a second later the car was driving off leaving me to sneak my way back inside the cold stone walls.

Adrenaline was pumping in my veins and I was far from scared. Sneaking in was something normal, something I was used to from all the times I snuck into Gallagher's grounds. This was all natural to me and because of that I held no fear.

Entering and sneaking through the abandon warehouse, dodging cameras on the way, I reappeared on the other side. With quick steps and precise calculations I went through a window into a much more modern looking building. I listened keenly for sounds…footsteps…voices…while walking through hallways and rooms.

Soon I was at my destination an old, dusty looking room with no cameras and no sensors on the walls. It wasn't high on security alert except for about three body guards outside the walls who weren't entirely that tricky to pass by when going through the vent. There was a worn-out cot against the wall. It looked far from clean or comfortable but I laid on it anyway and waited.

The wait didn't last long it wasn't even a minute before the door opened and a young man almost seven feet tall, heavily muscular stepped inside. "Miss. Cameron Morgan we have a lot to explain, please follow me." His hair was dark and hung in his eyes but I doubted it impaired his vision.

With caution and a puzzled look on my face—that wasn't much for show—I followed him through the white, cold hallways.

I was settled in another room that looked suitable for integration while a petite red haired, cloudy blue eyed girl with a name-tag that read 'Elaine' who went on talking in quick breaths. She shuffled through files explaining to me my position here and anything relevant to the work I did.

She told me that I had taken a nasty hit on the head on a latest mission here in the states. Resulting in me going straight into a coma and was sent here to the small hospital they had in the building. A coma state that I recently woke out of yesterday and was first noted that some of my memory was gone, which somehow made me flip out violently. I was sent back under while they moved me to the room I had been in previously for safety precautions. The man who had entered had been apparently armed with a shot in case, like last time, the same thing happened.

Through the revisiting of past information that I couldn't answer myself the woman didn't once fill me in on that I was married if I was. Zach wasn't mentioned once but Bex, Macey, and Liz names were all mentioned. I even caught Grant and Jonas and a few other names I didn't recognize or a couple who I knew from Gallagher. But, yet, there wasn't a mention of Zach which greatly concerned me.

"Any questions, Miss. Morgan," Elaine asked looking professional and bored at the same time.

_Miss._

I stared at the engagement ring on my finger. Taking a breath I held it up in view and asked, "Where did this come from?"

She examined my hand for a moment before reopening a file and looking through it. "You're married to a Mr. Zachary Goode. I'm sure he will be coming here to pick you up or try to. You should know that you don't have to go with him if you don't want. I'm sure you're confused enough as it is." There was a knock on the door. "If you don't have any more questions Agent Morgan than Trey will take you to Mr. Jacobson, the director and your boss."

The young man from before stepped inside with only a raised eyebrow. Elaine looked at me for a second to see if there was anything else before giving a slight nod of her head in Trey's direction. Then I was shipped off away from the interrogation office and into a large open space.

People were racing with files in hands while others were sitting around at tables chatting with one another. I was led in front of an office door before a billowed, older man stepped out immediately. His hair was just starting to catch a few grew spots and he had a short beard.

Quickly he enveloped me in a hug causing me to tense.

He pulled back seeming to ignore the tension. "Oh Cameron, it's so good to have you back on your feet. One of our fine, promising young spies. It was such a shame what happened to you. But not to worry your back and I'm sure you'll be better than ever." He raised an eyebrow waiting for my response.

"Yes," I replied. His eyebrow was still raised I quickly added, "Mr. Jacobson." _Mr. Santa Claus is more like it even his cheeks are a bit rosy all he needs is a longer, whiter beard._

He grinned a pearl white smile and slapped a hand against my back.

"I'm sure you'll be back in action soon, but for now you probably want to go visit friends and family. Catch up on your daily life again. Its fine you have plenty of vacation days for that. I'll even be generous and let you off for two months if you need."

"Um…thanks, Mr. Jacobson." There was a strange vibe I was receiving but I wasn't entirely sure if that was from instinct or perceived knowledge. Information that could be false.

"Margaret? Where is Margaret?" Mr. Jacobson called out looking over at Trey. He shrugged his shoulders and remained leaning against the wall. "Well it doesn't matter, I can call you a cab." He turned back over to me. "Where would you like to go Cameron over to Miss. Sutton, Miss. McHenry, or maybe a family member?"

He already had his cell-phone pulled out waiting for me to respond.

"How about where I live? Where do I live?" I asked and saw a strange flicker pass through his eyes.

Mr. Jacobson remained all grins though. "Oh, of course, you probably want to see where you live now. Well…"

A voice called out interrupting Mr. Jacobson. "Sir, Agent Goode is here and he's getting anxious. He's not willing to wait much longer."

"Ah," Mr. Jacobson said sounding disappointed. "Your husband, not the most tempered of men. Here,"-he pulled out a card-,"you can have a fresh start now if you want. I'm sure it won't be easy trying to live with someone you don't exactly know much about anymore."

_An attorney for divorce, _the card stated numbers written on the bottom.

"Cammie," I heard Zach call. I slipped the card inside my jeans pocket before turning and seeing Zach stepping through the doors.

Mr. Jacobson was walking ahead of me down a short flight of stairs. "Agent Goode, do you not understand the virtue of patience?" He didn't sound angry but he wasn't grinning anymore either. He had a much more somber look on his face.

Zach's eyes turned on Mr. Jacobson. He had a straight face but I could tell by his eyes he was fairly angry. "Do you not understand the meaning of calling me when she first wakes up from her coma, something that happened yesterday." There was a question of authority in his tone and there was a long moment of silence even the people who were around us seemed to stop moving now all attention on Mr. Jacobson and Zach.

"It wouldn't have been a good idea to see her then. She wasn't herself and quite violent. It wouldn't have been in your best interest to know yet."

"Sure it wasn't," Zach said eyes cold, hard, and set on the boss.

"Okay, well, I want to go home," I stated trying to lessen the tension. Now I ended up being the spotlight as all eyes went towards me, which made me feel even less comfortable here in this strange place. "Now, would be nice, Zach." I started walking past him and out the doors.

Zach followed me but before we left I called out, "Thanks Mr. Jacobson." I gave him a half-smile.

"My pleasure, Miss. Morgan," he said with a wink before they disappeared out of view.

Looking over at Zach I saw him shaking his head. "What, what's the matter with you?" I asked while we started walking out of the building.

"Miss. Morgan, he's calling you _Miss. _Morgan now," Zach replied through gritted teeth.

"He…he didn't before."

Zach paused and stared at me for a long time, his gaze only somewhat softer. "Only before we were married." His voice was much softer. Then he titled his head and stood in front of me. "Did he give you anything? Anything at all?"

"No," I lied. "Nothing but information on my job here." Zach vaguely nodded but it didn't seem like he believed me all that much.

With the click of the unlock button to a different car Zach asked, "So who do you want to pay a visit?"

**REVIEW!**


	5. Someone I Trust

**A/N: I really like this chapter, I don't know why but I do. Anyway I know there has been some confusion in the beginning about this story so far which may have been due to the concept of the memory-loss situation. Hopefully the confusion is starting to die down.**

**Anyway here is a short overview of what the story is about so far: Cameron Ann Morgan is twenty-four, married to Zachary Goode, and she can't remember the last seven years all because of the director who wiped seven years of her memory away for fear she knew too much. Now on to the story…**

Chapter 5: Someone I Trust

"Cameron…Cammie…Cam…Gallagher Girl…"

"Hmm," I mumbled, opening my eyes squinting at the light. I didn't even remember closing them.

"Hey," I heard a voice call. "You awake."

I turned in my seat to see Zach who was way too close. I scooted back instantly wanting to put quite a bit of distance.

Zach stayed kneeling there for two seconds before standing up. His eyes were hard and his voice was harsh. "We're here, at your mom's house."

"Oh, great," I replied getting out quickly. Someone who I can finally, completely trust.

I ran up the steps while I heard Zach shutting the car door. Taking in the green oak door with the large brass knob I stood there in slight awe of the large white house. Zach had told me that since mom left teaching at the Academy she had settled into a fairly large, nice home. Still I wasn't expecting this and it would be weird seeing my mom in a home and not in the office at the Academy.

Knocking with the brass knob I waited. Once Zach had reached me standing slightly behind me the door opened.

Before words even came out my mom had me tight in a hug. "Cammie, oh Cammie, your alright. I was worried about you," she whispered to me before letting me go. She looked over at Zach. "I assume you brought her over here as soon as you could." Her eyebrow was raised but there was a smile on her face.

"Yes, mom," Zach replied with a slight smile while I rushed inside.

_Mom!?_ Not sure I could get used to that.

My _mom_ led me through the foyer, past the living room, and straight into the kitchen. "Do you want anything to drink, Cam?" she asked already taking a few mugs out.

"No, I'm fine."

I took a seat on one of the stools near the counter while Zach sat over at the table. Actually, it was more like lounged at the table. He was completely at ease here and…it worried me.

Mom gave me a disbelieving look. "Really, mom, I'm not thirty or hungry. It's okay."

She looked over at Zach. "Has she had anything for breakfast?"

Zach shook his head. "Not that I know of unless they gave here something to eat at the Roe, which I doubt." Roe, I assume, was short for the building we were just at the Roe Wright Institution. Strange name and I guess it's supposed to keep them undercover.

"I'm not hungry anyway. Really mom, you don't have to go to any trouble." It was the truth after everything that happened I had lost my appetite. All I wanted to do was crawl back to bed and wish for my life back, everything was too different, too strange.

Of course mom gave me that look, that motherly look that told me I wasn't getting away with it.

She set down the mugs she had been holding and looked me straight in the eye. "Cameron Ann Morgan Goode, you are going to eat and that is final. Now go and sit at the table and I'll make you a sandwich."

"But…"

"Cameron."

I sighed but stood up and walked over to the table and sat across from Zach as far away from him as possible. Mom started getting the bread out and started making a sandwich.

She looked over at our direction. She turned her gaze over to Zach. "She doesn't remember, does she?"

"Nothing in the last seven years," Zach responded automatically. He was starring out the kitchen window. It didn't seem like he was looking at anything particular by gaze but that he was just staring.

"So you know about this memory loss situation?" I asked, not sure how to phrase it.

Mom was spreading on the peanut butter harder than normal. "That your director, Mr. Jacobson, gave you a shot to erase a number of years from your memory, then yes I do know about it." She looked over at Zach. "Have you called Joe, yet?"

"Haven't been able to reach him," Zach replied, his gaze still not leaving the window. "But we need to come up with a plan anyway and something quick."

"What did I know?" I asked and they both looked over at me. "This happened because I knew too much, because I was a threat. Exactly what is it that I knew?"

Mom and Zach exchanged a look. _Should we tell her?_

The home phone went off. The caller I.D. read Abigail Cameron. "I have to take this," mom said in a surreal voice before heading off with the phone.

Zach stood up and walked over to the counter without saying a word. Mom had finished the sandwich just hadn't put the two pieces of bread together, which Zach ended up doing. He carried the plate it over to me and dropped, rather than set it, on the table in front of me. It made a sharp noise, spun slightly, before it settled down.

"You should eat," Zach said going back over to his seat.

"And you shouldn't drop plates unless your plan is to break them." I lifted the bottom of the plate up slightly to make sure it was all in one piece. "I mean, really, you could have cracked it. Besides I'm not hungry." I pushed the plate away from me.

Now Zach was giving me the look. "Cam, you haven't eaten all day and it's almost four in the afternoon."

"Well considering everything that has happened, it's a bit overwhelming and…well, I lost my appetite. What can I say?"

Zach looked at me for a long time before sighing and leaning forward on the table. "At least take a bite. Otherwise the next time you get up you'll probably fall."

I rolled my eyes. "I doubt my blood sugar is that low." Regardless, I took a bite. It wasn't a large bite but it wasn't a small bite and it was enough to—somewhat—please Zach.

An hour passed by before mom actually returned to the kitchen. Zach and I had remained where we were sitting with a one bite eaten sandwich between us. We had exchanged words every now and then but for the most part it was silent.

"Sorry about that," mom said talking directly to me. "It was urgent. Anyway you two might want to get home soon." She was looking down at the watch on her wrist. "Considering it will take almost an hour to get back to your house."

"Can I stay here mom, for the night?" I asked.

She looked at me and then over at Zach who didn't say a word. "Um…sure honey," she said with uncertainty. "But you'll have to sleep on the couch. The guest bedroom is packed at the moment."

"That's fine with me. Why is it packed?" My mom wasn't known to be a pack rat. If she is known as that here then I must have fallen through another dimension.

She looked somewhat embarrassed. "Mostly it's your old stuff I haven't bothered to get rid of yet." She shrugged.

"My old stuff, can I go look at it?"

"Sure."

With that I almost bolted out of the kitchen. _My old stuff, _my_ old stuff._

Finally something would be familiar here and I was right. It took a few minutes to find the room but once I saw it I was completely overjoyed.

Piles of books and torn stuff animals were flooding the room. Everything from when I was toddler, a child, a pre-teen, and a teen were all right there sitting on the floor, bed, and even desk. I even saw my old doll-house that I last played with when I was six.

Immediately I ran over to it and felt the hole on the side of the kitchen. The hole I had created from a really bad home-made science experiment. Acid and doll houses do not go together.

It was great to be surrounded by everything that I knew and was familiar with and, well, I laughed. I think I spent hours in that room searching through old boxes pulling out t-shirts and blankets, being filled with memories completely oblivious to the outside. By the time I looked up at the window it was dark, really dark.

I stumbled out of the room. Slightly off-balance from the mess I made and then straightened up when I reached the hall. Sniffing the air I smelled tacos.

_Ugh._

Tacos weren't particularly my favorite meal of the day. I would rather be eating the sandwich.

Reentering the kitchen I saw my mom alone sitting in the seat I had taken early with a book in hand and a mug in the other.

"You took a long time reminiscing," my mom said, once I entered the room her eyes never leaving the book.

I walked over to the table to see a taco plate ready for me. I took a look out the window but didn't see Zach's car.

"He left several hours ago. He'll be back sometime in the morning maybe nine or ten."

"Oh," I said, not bothering to hide my disappointment. "Perfect." Well, I was going to have to go back with him. I'm still legally married to him…for now.

Mom had taken her eyes off her book setting on the table. She looked over at me a sadden smile on her face. "Cam, has anything happened that I should know about?"

"You know about the memory thing. Actually, you probably know more about that and the rest of my life then I do," I replied. Absent mindedly I was moving the meat in the taco with my fork.

"Cam, don't play with your food. You know its cold, hand it to me and I'll microwave it for a few minutes." She took the plate and stuck it in the microwave and set the timer. "You do know Zach loves you Cameron, right?"

I played at the edge of the tablecloth. "He's my husband doesn't that imply." Even I couldn't ignore the bitterness in my voice.

"Cameron…"

"It's just that I don't remember…anything. Not anything after I was sixteen. I don't know when we had our first date, when he proposed, when we actually got married. I don't remember any of it and I…I kind of feel like I'm still sixteen. Being twenty-four is strange when the last thing I remember is sleeping at the ranch while I was still sixteen." I shook my head and stared out the window. Tears formed in my eyes but I didn't dare let one out.

"Oh Cammie," I heard my mom reply. I felt her arms around my shoulder as she kissed the top of my head. "I know this must be hard for you and I can't imagine how you feel right now. This is all probably confusing and frightening to you, but honey…" She kneeled down and pulled my face over to meet hers. "It will be okay, I promise. Just please don't do anything impulsive, okay?"

"Okay," I replied while one tear escaped. She wrapped me in a hug and didn't pull away until the beeper sounded. She pushed my hair back behind my ears away from my face. "You need to eat and you're not leaving this table until there doesn't even look like there was a taco on that plate."


	6. Fierce Flight

Chapter 6: Fierce Flight

The couch wasn't all that comfortable and I almost thought about sleeping on the floor. Practically the whole night I tossed and turned and felt a deadweight in the pit of my stomach. _I want to go home._

Exactly where is home? Yesterday (memory wise) I knew instantly, but today, tonight not so much. My mind was still reeling with all this information processing from throughout the day. It was still all too bizarre, all too dream-like.

When I did wake up there was no way I could tell anybody about this. I couldn't imagine how any of my roommates would react if they knew I had a dream where I was married to Zach especially the very beginning part. Oh god…no, there was no way I could tell them. No amount of force would make me speak a word of this when I was awake.

And I would wake up eventually. I had to; this was only a nightmare not even a dream. If it was a dream I wouldn't feel this bad, this…

_Poke…Poke…Poke…Poke_

Something was poking me in the back. Maybe it was a spring. It didn't occur to me quite yet that wasn't possible when I was sleeping on my side with my head shoved into the couch pillow.

I rolled over and then was poked in the face. Squinting I opened my eyes to see a very strange but beautiful dark girl in front of me.

_Hmm…she looks familiar._

"Come on sleepy head, it's time to wake up." Sound started coming from her direction. _Did that come from her?_ "Do I need to get cold water?" My eyes started to fall closed and then instantly back open when fingernails ran across the ends of me feet, really cold fingernails.

I yelped and jumped up all the way onto the armrest. Laughter came from the left side of me as I rubbed my eyes. _Terrible night very tired._

Looking up I saw Rebecca Baxter standing looking bemused. She was older but she very much maintained her exotic look.

"Bex," I screeched throwing my arms around my oldest friend.

"It's great to see you too Cammie," Bex replied with a chuckle. When we pulled apart she added, "I haven't seen you in ages, well a year and eight months, but still. You look different from last time, something with your hair. Did you get a haircut?"

"Umm…" Did I get a haircut?

"Well I see you've finally got her up," mom said walking into the room.

"Yep, but it wasn't easy. Tickling her feet was what got her," Bex replied with a sly grin.

"Ah, never underestimate the art of tickling, huh," another voice flooded the room.

Bex stood placed both hands on her hips, eyebrow raised, one lip curled upward. She was taking an imitating stance. "Never underestimated _the Baxter_ art of tickling or was that a challenge?"

I looked behind me to see Zach leaning on the kitchen doorway with two hands held up in surrender.

"Thought so," Bex said pleased. She crossed her arms back over her chest.

"Well Cameron, why don't you go and eat breakfast. There's eggs, toast, sausage, help yourself. Zach and I need to talk to Rebecca about something." My mom had her hands clasped together and was watching me with careful eyes.

I shrugged. "Sure." I got up and walked into the kitchen while everyone else went the other way.

Everything mom had said was there and more and yet nothing looked all that appealing and my back was still killing me from sleeping on the couch. _Well_,I thought,_ I guess I have to eat something._

I worked on an egg and listened in on the conversation occurring in the neighboring room. When I was half-way finished there was yelling coming directly from Bex.

"You're lying! You're both lying! Mr. Jacobson would never do that! How can you even dare say anything like that?"

"Do you think I want this to be true!? My wife barely knows who I am anymore. Bex, I'm sorry, but Mr. Jacobson is behind this. It was the last thing Cameron said when she could still remember."

"NO!!!" she screeched anger deep within her voice. "I know my friend Zach and she _would _never, ever _say _anything like that! Besides from what I heard from your building the last thing Cameron said was 'OW! WHY DID YOU HIT ME AGAINST THE HEADBOARD?'" There were loud footsteps and I watched as Bex ran out of the house slamming the door behind her.

The windows shook from the sheer force.

Zach was the first to reach the door, but he didn't open it he just watched through the window. "She won't believe this not after everything, not until they try to kill her will she even consider the possibility." His voice sounded neutral on the surface, but deeper past the façade it sounded forced to be that way.

Mom was the next to walk into view, lacing finger together and apart. "We can't count on her. We'll have to exclude her. I'll see if I can get in touch with Joe." I stood away from my plate and took a few steps towards the living room. "You should take Cameron home."

_Home._ But he couldn't, he couldn't take me to where I really considered home to be.

He looked over at me while mom had stalked away and was now taking and folding a blanket from the couch. She looked somber and Zach was giving me a silent plead with his eyes not to fuss. Walking into the living room I watched my mother to see if I could find any subtle signs for, well, anything.

"Bye mom," I said in a light voice. Zach held the door open for me.

Mom looked up at me a smile on her face. "Goodbye Cameron, Zachary." I stepped through the door. "Take good care of my daughter."

"Always, mom," he replied with a short nod. He shut the door behind him and started down the steps.

Yeah, it was going to take a lot of time to ever get used to hearing him call her mom.

**A/N: Review!?**


	7. Bleak Vision

Chapter 7: Bleak Vision

It was 12:05 when we finally reached the apartment door. I went in first, took off my jacket, and threw it on the couch without a second thought. I wanted a bath, a long, hot bath to think things through and untangle the knots in my back.

When I reached the bedroom I yelled, "I'm taking a bath." The words came out before I even thought about them. I paused in step and added, "Don't come in." Well, that didn't sound better.

There was a mumbled 'okay' from Zach followed by the sound of the refrigerator door opening. Paranoid I locked the door to the bedroom and the bathroom and then placed a chair under the knob. Okay, I was past paranoid now.

Only I didn't care anymore and if Zach really wanted to come in I was sure he would find some other way. I started the water and stripped down.

The water was hot to the touch, but it felt good against the knots.

My mind was still trying to process all the events that had occurred. It was all still too strange, all too unreal to think about my _new_ life. Although, I guess it wasn't really a new life just one I couldn't remember.

Why would Mr. Jacobson do this?

He was strange I had to admit and I did get the occasional chill in the spine but it didn't seem to fit. Zach and mom seemed certain in his motives while Bex freaked out from the idea. I would have to ask about that. The Bex I knew wouldn't have freaked out that major without a very important reason.

Then the other piece of this puzzle I was missing was why this happened to me in the first place. They didn't seem to want to tell me quite yet I could see that by their looks.

Still even with all that to think about my mind always went back to one critical, shocking revelation.

I am married to Zach. I am married to Zachary Goode. I am no longer a Morgan but a Goode. Mrs. Goode.

I sure hope I didn't lose my mind in that decision. But…I guess it was a choice I was happy when I could still remember making it. My mom seemed completely fine with him and worried over what I might do.

_What would I do?_

Looking over at my jeans a breath caught in my throat. The card was still in there. One quick phone call and I could be on the way to a divorce, which maybe wasn't such a bad idea.

Mr. Jacobson was right I didn't know who the man I was married to that entirely well. Zach was a complete mystery to me back then and things sure haven't changed. Would it be such a crime to divorce someone I no longer loved, no longer knew well?

How would Zach act? I wasn't quite sure but I am sure that the divorce wouldn't settle over with him well. Not by watching the way he had been acting and the…the video. No, he wouldn't be happy.

Maybe…maybe I could stick around for a few more days see if this actually would and could work. I mean there had to be something about him that I ended up here.

Once I was dressed—hair completely drenched—with the card safely tucked away I walked out of the bedroom. There were voices, slightly static, coming from the living room.

Following the noise I saw Zach sitting in a chair his back to me. He was watching a video.

"Grant that isn't funny!" I shouted wiping snow from my cheeks.

A bellowed laugh sounded from the distance one I knew instantly as Grants.

"Zach, turn the camera off." I was starring straight at the camera with a serious gaze even though I was smiling. "Turn it off. Now! We don't need to see this." It seemed as though I was trying to take the camera away from him, but it kept going backwards out of my reach.

"Hey Grant you want to take over," Zach shouted. There was shuffling with the camera while I threw my hands up in the air and was turning my back to the screen.

A second later there was a snowball hitting the back of my head.

"Zach!" I shouted without turning around. "You two are so dead after this." I looked over my shoulder and swiftly dodged a third snowball. "So dead."

"Ah, all threats Cammie. I'm disappointed," came Grant's voice.

I just narrowed my eyes shaking my head at him from over the camera.

Zach came into view tossing a snowball up and down in his hand.

"Come on Gallagher Girl are you going to take action or not?" he asked while my gaze cut over to him. "Or are you just a follower?"

A chase followed after that comment one too fast for Grant to completely capture. Several large, well-aimed snowballs were hit at Zach, Grant, and the camera. Where Grant then had to lower the camera and clean the lens although the noises hardly died down.

When it was raised back up the camera zoomed to where Zach and I were lying side by side in the snow. It seemed we were coming to a truce as we finished shaking hands. Then we looked over at the camera with sly grins planted on our faces.

"Oh, _bloody_ great." The screen went blank.

"One month," Zach, the one in the chair, stated. I looked at him, not sure what he was talking about. "One exact month the video was taken before we were married, if you wanted to know." He stood up and walked over to the DVR.

I didn't reply only watched. His posture was different as he put the disc away and I wasn't sure why.

He looked up, his eyes were still heavily guarded. "Was the bath, okay?"

"Sure." I walked straight to the kitchen while Zach followed shortly.

I sat down at the table, arms rested on top, and head lying on top of them. Zach came over behind me and sat in the chair next to me.

"Something on your mind." It wasn't a question because Zach knew. He was looking down at me waiting for me to speak, to tell him what exactly was on my mind.

Turning my head over to the side to get a better view I replied, "A lot. For starters why did Bex freak out?" Eyes narrowing I added, "Why doesn't she believe in Mr. Jacobson committing this act?"

Zach sighed and clasped his hands on the table. His thumbs having their own mini war dominance.

Starring I took careful note to Zach's wedding band, nothing seemed off. _Why would they take mine? What would be the point?_

Zach's voice caught my attention. "They're related, distantly, but related. He…well he also saved her life when she was little."

My gaze turned severe. "Then why don't I know about this? She's _my oldest_ friend."

"Their distant and the saving incident well, Bex doesn't like to talk about it. The only reason we found out was through her cousin. The story…Bex is quite foolish but anyway he saved her life. She'll trust him to the ends of the earth after that, I'm sure of it." His eyes stayed on mine while my gaze lightened up a little.

"We found out, who's we?"

His eyes fell to the table. He mumbled out, "I was talking about the two of us." He didn't look back up and for a moment we just sat there.

_He looks...He looks sad…Because of me._

I looked over across the table and fear gripped me. Spots, dark spots, started filling my vision. This wasn't good. I felt dizzy and was glad I was sitting down already. My legs felt weak. My stomach turned. This _really_ wasn't good.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Zach shouted directly into my ear.

I cringed from the volume.

"CAMERON!" His voice sounded like a siren.

I scooted farther away in my chair and tried to look over at him. I couldn't make out his figure anymore. Everything was black. Everything was loud. Everything was numb.

For a moment my body shook. It wasn't a really violent shake but something your body did when you felt cold.

_Am I cold? Is it cold?_

Ice, it felt like ice, touching my shoulders. I tried to get away from the touch but it was holding me back, gripping me.

My throat burned and my vision started clearing slightly. I couldn't see that well but I could depict figures. And then, well then the last thing I remembered was vomiting and then nothing after that.

**A/N: Oh dear, what has happened to our friend Cammie? Well, you can only find out through the next chapter(s). So review!**


	8. Side Effect?

Chapter 8: Side Effect?

"Could this be because of the shot? A side-effect, maybe?" A voice sounded in the room. "Shouldn't she be up by now? It's been over twenty-four hours." The voice was filled with concern.

"Actually I think she's waking up right now. As for the shot I think that might indeed be the reason for what happened, but I can't be absolutely sure yet."

I opened my eyes to see two women. One was obviously older with dark hair and frown lines. She was hovering over me while writing on a clipboard. The other woman had much darker hair and was several inches taller. It took a moment before recognizing one of them.

"Macey?" I croaked out, or at least that was it sounded like to my ears.

She nodded before lowering herself down and wrapping her arms around my neck. "You gave us all a scare, Chameleon." She rose back up. "Are you feeling okay, now?"

"I…I guess." I didn't feel great, but I felt a lot better than before. For one thing I wasn't numb and my perfect clear-spot vision was back. "What happened?"

"You had a severe reaction and then passed out," the other woman stated. I looked over at her and took notice that she was wearing a lab coat with a name-tag. _Kelsie._

"Reaction, severe reaction to what?" I pushed myself up seeing now that I was lying on a couch. The couch located in the living room where I now supposedly lived.

The woman tapped her pencil against her mouth. "Most likely the shot you were given before, in erasing your memory. Of course without knowing what shot that was I can't be sure. I can run a few tests anyways just to see if it's anything else, like other drugs." She left the room after that.

"Are you sure your okay Cammie?" Macey asked again. "Absolutely sure?"

"Yes, Macey, I'm sure." I stood up quickly and just as quickly lost my balance. Macey caught my arm and steadied me back to the couch.

"Careful, not too fast, you've been asleep for a day. You haven't had much too eat." I laid straight back down hit feeling far from great. "You stay here and I'll go get you something. Hopefully you guys have food still around here?"

Curling up into a ball I listened to the noises surrounding me. _What is happening to me?_

There was a hand on my forehead. I pulled away and looked up.

"Seeing if you had a temperature is all." Zach was leaning over the armrest on the couch looking down at me.

"Do you ever go to work or do you have no life?" I asked. It came out more vicious then I had intended.

There was no hint of a smile and his eyes were narrowed and unkind. "Hmm…work or home. Well let's see, home is where my wife who has a lapse in memory and is ill is at. Or work where certain people want me dead. Sorry I picked the wrong choice." His tone was dripping with sarcasm. He left me but only to sit over in a nearby chair. The television turned on and he flipped careless through the channels.

_Well, I think I might have deserved that._

With a sigh I said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I just…I don't feel like myself with everything that is happening." No response. "I'm sorry Zach, really." Silence.

Macey came in with a tray that was carrying a bowl of soup. "Forgive her already Zachary. It isn't her fault the position she's in and the silent treatment from you won't help the matter." She set the tray on the coffee table in front of me. "Eat Cam, before you pass out again."

Taking a moment to sit up I started to eat, feeling better with each bite. Soon I was scarfing it down realizing just how hungry I really was.

Macey walked over to Zach took the remote out of his hand and clicked the television off. She starred at him straight in the eye. "Talk to your wife." Her voice was demanding and deadly calm.

They starred at each other for a moment in a challenging way, one that was unsettling to watch. Then Zach racked his hands through his hair while Macey walked out with triumph in her step.

"Is it good?" Zach asked not looking at me. "The soup," he clarified. He was still mad I could tell, but it didn't seem so much directed at me anymore.

Taking a pause I replied, "Anything would taste good at the moment, since I'm starving enough."

He looked over at me. "Yeah, I think I can see the outline of your ribs."

Still shoveling food in my mouth I pulled on my skin with my other hands—there wasn't much to tug. I really do need to eat.

Footsteps resounded as Kelsie walked back in.

"If anything else happens you know the number," Kelsie was stating looking straight at Zach. "In the meantime make sure she eats and sleeps. That is the best medicine in the world for her." She looked over her shoulder. "Are you coming Macey?"

"Nah, I think I'll stay here for a little while to make sure everything stays relatively stable," Macey called from the kitchen. It sounded like there was an underlining message in that statement.

Kelsie nodded and then walked out. The front door sounded shortly.

"You don't have to stay Macey—" I was cut off instantly by her.

"Yes, yes I do Cammie," Macey replied walking into the room. She sat down on the armrest of the couch.

"Well," Zach said standing up from the chair, "I should call your mom. Tell her you're awake, eating, and well." Zach started to head towards the kitchen.

Great, so my mom knows I had a…episode?

I set the tray over on the coffee table with the bowl wiped clean. Macey whistled looking down at it. "You got rid of that fast," she commented shaking her head in disbelief.

Shrugging my shoulders I asked, "Why did he do this? What did I find out that threatened Mr. Jacobson so much?" Starring up at her I waited for an answer.

Macey looked over her shoulders, shifting her head around, seeing if Zach was coming back soon. She leaned down until her mouth was resting right next to my ear. She whispered, "Because you found out that he worked and is still working _for_ the Circle of Cavan." She leaned out while my eyes widened a centimeter. "We were all tricked," Macey added not in a whisper but in a soft voice. "You really can't tell who to trust." She seemed to be talking to herself this time.

It all went silent when Zach stepped back into the room. He eyed us both—Macey more—carefully while sitting back down in the chair.

"That was fast," I stated recounting the seconds in my head.

"I got voice mail. She may be driving here or…something. What were you two talking about?" He looked over at Macey more specifically as he asked.

Macey rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I was informing Miss. Cam about important criteria's. What does it matter to you?"

"It matters exactly what the 'criteria' is."

"EXCUSE ME!" I shouted before Macey had a chance to reply. My gaze was directly on Zach, deep and demanding. "What Macey has to tell me matters to me and me alone, _Zachary_. Do not dare start to act…act…act like a slave owner or what not. It is my life, not yours." I sat and stood up quickly against the aching throb of my muscles protesting and the spin of my vision. I ignored it all still starring straight at Zach. "And you know maybe I don't feel like sharing that life with you anymore. Maybe it's past time I go."

It would have been a nice last statement had I actually left the apartment, but I didn't I went straight into the hall. Slid down the wall and just sat there still feeling resentment and anger.

"_What have you done?"_ Macey hissed at Zach.

"I wasn't the one who was talking to her. What did you _tell_ her?" Zach asked angrily in a much louder tone.

"Nothing," Macey dismissed off-handily. "Nothing that would, should have gotten her this upset and directly at you. Are you sure you didn't say or do something stupid before? Anything that would have set her off like that?"

"No, Macey, not that I can think of, but with her memory gone I think just about anything can set her off." He let out a sigh.

"Well?" Macey prodded.

"Well, what?" Zach asked irritation deep in his voice.

"Are you going after her or should I?"

There was a pause of silence and then someone shifting and walking out of the room. It was only a few steps taken before the feet rested by my legs.

"Well, you didn't go far." Looking up I saw Macey with her arms crossed over her chest as an eyebrow lifted. "What was so upsetting?"

The question was a difficult one, it wasn't harsh either. Still I had trouble controlling the rage I was feeling inside. I didn't know what was upsetting me or why? Maybe it was the simple fact of losing my memory that was gnawing at me or maybe it was the way that I wasn't be clued in on information. Information I had discovered myself, but just didn't remember. Either way I had a right to know what it was.

Biting down on my lip hard I pondered. "I don't know. I just wish I remembered everything from before. I wish I knew exactly what and all the information that got me into this mess. I hate feeling this confused, it's not right." Taking a breath I added, "I want my life back."

"Which one?" Macey asked automatically and quietly. Her eyes were blank and dead on serious. She seemed to sense what was going through my mind.

"The one I last remember, I guess. The one…well that one."

"The one where Zach isn't in the picture, at least mostly not in," Macey continued for me. I didn't admit or deny it. The situation was still unsure for me. "I told myself I would never stick up for him, but give him a chance Cam. He loves you, you know." Now Macey was sounding like my mom. "Look, Cammie, divorce is a messing business and if you ever do gain your memory back I know for absolute certainty you would hate yourself for it. And Zach, well Zach would be crushed. He made a promise to you before that he wouldn't leave you when you couldn't remember. He isn't about to break that promise no matter how rough it gets between the two of you."

"Maybe that's not such a good thing," I replied.

She sighed, shaking her head. "Maybe I should…"

The doorbell rang.

"Maybe that's your mom," Macey said instead, looking down at me. We listened as Zach opened the door.

"Hello Zachary. How is Cameron's state?" Macey's jaw dropped a millimeter.

**A/N: Don't forget to review…**


	9. Eavesdropping from Afar

**A/N: You guys are great, really and everyone seems to really like this story. But anyway the reason I put this note here is just to tell you that Macey was surprised in the last chapter not shocked (there is a difference). And millimeter, if you look it up, is a really small measurement. Just wanted to make sure you understood that. Now on with the story…**

Chapter 9: Eavesdropping from Afar

Joe Solomon that was whose voice was at the door and who we saw when Macey and I both went back up to the front. He hadn't changed at all I could barely even tell that he had aged. Although he did, you could see it in his eyes.

"Miss McHenry. Miss Morgan." He nodded to each of us in turn with a small smile. Miss. Morgan, I guess some things never change.

I looked over at Zach to see if it bothered him but he didn't seem to mind. I guess with Mr. Solomon it's different with the fact that Joe Solomon will always refer to me as Miss Morgan.

"Mr. Solomon, when did you get here?" Macey asked.

Before Mr. Solomon could answer another voice sounded, "Several hours prior, Macey." It was Aunt Abigail. She went around Mr. Solomon and straight over to me with arms wide as she wrapped me in a hug. "Hey squirt, heard you got ill yesterday. How are you feeling?" she asked me while pulling away. She was smiling but her eyes were deep with concern.

"I'm fine. I feel fine." No, I don't feel fine, not at this moment. It was good that no one here was a mind reader. Nor did anyone detect my false answer or at least they didn't comment on it.

"Very well, I'm sure you know _why _we are here," Solomon said in monotone. Macey nodded along with Zach.

I shrugged. I had a vague idea but I didn't care all that much. I wanted to lie down and try to piece together my life back. "I'll be in the bedroom," I stated without a second thought. I left the four of them standing in the entryway with confused looks.

Feeling awful was coming over me again and I prayed this time I wouldn't start seeing spots that it wouldn't become that bad. The minute I could I curled up on the bed and took in deep breaths trying to let the feeling pass.

I listened; I listened hard to my surroundings. I could hear their voices but they weren't loud enough to depict what they were saying. _There has to be an easier way._

And there was as I stood up, walked over to the closed door, and sat down beside it with my ear pressed against the oak. There I could hear the faint conversation easier.

"…knows absolutely nothing?" Mr. Solomon asked.

"No," Zach replied. There was a faint mumbling. "What did you tell her Macey?" He sounded irritated.

"I told her why it was she ended up in this situation. I told her she was the one who found out that Mr. Jacobson is working for the Circle of Cavan," Macey stated.

"Is that all you told her Macey?" Aunt Abigail asked. More mumbling and shifting sounded. "Okay, so she doesn't know. You should probably tell her soon Zach…"

"We don't know if it is true though," Macey interrupted. "I mean we don't have any proof that is what is going to happen, that is what they're planning on doing."

"Yes, Miss McHenry, we don't know for sure if that is what they are indeed planning. But it would be in their best interest," Solomon said followed by the sound of a chair pushed across the floor. "I'm afraid Miss Morgan was a little too curious and a little too good for her own well being. There was more she knew about Mr. Jacobson than just that he was working with the Circle of Cavan. And whatever it was she never got around to telling us, but she was incredibly fearful of it."

A chill ran down my spine it suddenly sounded like they were talking about someone who died.

"You could see it in her face," Zach added in a softer voice.

"And that is why I am almost certain that Mr. Jacobson is not done with Cameron yet. I don't know how he will do it or when, but he will kidnap her. There is too much of a risk of her regaining her knowledge for him. He would be an idiot if he sat around and did nothing." I could practically see Solomon shaking his head at the thought.

Then Aunt Abby spoke. "What bothers me though is the fact of why he has even gone to all this trouble. He would have always known that Cameron couldn't go back to a normal life that they couldn't back in time and make it so she never discovered what she did. They had to know that they would have to kill her eventually or at least lock her up somewhere. Why would they go to all the trouble of having her lose her memory when she couldn't stay like this?"

"Maybe…maybe…I don't know. It really doesn't make sense," Macey agreed in a deflated voice. "Regardless we should get back to how we are going to attack Mr. Jacobson first. We all know he is well connected in the industry and we won't have Bex to help us or at least not right away." There was shuffling of papers. "Who do we have on our side?"

"Bethany Cruse, Anna Fetterman, Wayne Hampton, Trevor Danvers, and Eva Alvarez," Zach stated as I recognized two of the names.

_Eva and Anna_

"Okay and I still am talking to Liz," Macey said in a muffled voice. "What about Grant and Jonas?"

"Grant's in but Jonas won't be coming. He refuses to come."

_Jonas refuses, why?_

"Okay, then," Macey continued not sounding concerned. "Mr. Solomon, Abby were you able to influence anyone to come?"

"Of course, Macey," Aunt Abby replied in a smooth voice. "We have our friends and sources but what I want to discuss about now is the ROE building. I've never actually been inside it before, but I was able to obtain a blue-print of their security along with other _things_."

There was major shuffling of papers that now covered the voices and what they were saying. So I stood up and walked over to the bed sitting on the edge of it thinking.

So I wasn't out of the woods yet. Apparently I was still a major threat on whatever it is that I found out that nobody can tell me about only myself if I could just remember and because of that I was a target. A target for a kidnapping or killing that apparently Mr. Solomon was completely sure of happening. The questions now were when, how, where, and especially why.

If I could only figure out what it was that I found out and then the why it was so important for it to be kept under wraps would certainly follow. Until then I was stuck in a situation where I was being sought after—which for spies is never a good thing—and left in the dark when I didn't have to be if I only remembered.

**A/N: So no Zammie in this chapter. But next chapter will be longer with let's just say the only two character in it are Zach and Cammie. Now if you review I'll give you a sentence sneak peek of the next chapter.**


	10. Night Time Struggles

Chapter 10: Night Time Struggles

Everyone was gone and it was just Zach and I left. It was almost ten at night.

"Which do you want?" Zach asked starring down at the table.

"Want what?" I asked in turn.

He looked up at me with a straight face veiling all emotions. "Where do you want to sleep, the bed or the couch? I would already take the couch if it wasn't for the fact that you hate when I make assumptions."

"Oh," I said surprised. "Thanks," I added awkwardly. He shrugged his shoulders in acknowledgment as he stood up and got another cup of coffee. "I'll take the couch then. I slept there last night and I can sleep there again."

"You sure?" he asked looking over the brim of the cup. "It's not exactly an incredibly comfortable couch. You can blame Grant for that."

"Grant? He bought the couch?" I asked puzzled and slightly concerned. Zach shook his head grinning from an inside joke.

"No, I wish that was the reason. Let's just leave it at he did one too many experiments on upholstery one week and never on his own."

I stood up walked over to the doorway and looked at the seemingly normal couch. "Should I be worried that I'm going to start sprouting gills or contract some disease?"

With a laugh Zach replied, "No, you're safe. The couch has been cleaned over a dozen times. The original shape, however, has never been able to be restored."

"Good," I said with a sigh of relief.

The last thing I needed to worry about was couch poisoning. I looked over at Zach who was busy starring at a blank wall. His forehead was creased in thought. _I wonder what's on his mind._

I opened my mouth to say something but no words came out. What could I possibly say? Sorry, I no longer remember anything. Sorry, that I've been considering divorce. No, I couldn't say anything like that.

So I stood there in silence watching and feeling a tightening around my heart. If I apparently fell once maybe I could fall again. Maybe this could really work out.

"Ow," I said under my breath. My hands immediately went to my right knee, clutching it.

"What? What is it?" Zach was immediately in front of me his coffee cup left on the kitchen counter.

"My knee, that's all. It just started hurting for a second." I released my grip, stood up straighter, and moved my leg around to see how it felt. "It's fine now."

"What kind of pain was it?"

"Shooting pain, I guess, but it was quick barely lasted a second."

Zach eyes narrowed as he looked down at my knee. "But there was still pain. You know, maybe you sleeping on the couch isn't such a good idea."

"Zach I told you I'm fine. It's no big deal."

"Cammie."

"Zach."

There was a moment of silence as we just stared at each other. Zach shook his head looking down as if he was giving his side of the argument, but apparently that wasn't the case when he looked back up.

"Please?" he asked. His eyes were wide and pleading.

"We—Alright fine."

* * *

I laid there in the middle of the bed thinking that this was weird. I turned over smothering my head into a pillow and became intoxicated by a scent before I realized what it was.

_Smells exactly like Zach…_

I backed away as far as I could to the other side of the bed. I was never going to sleep easy this way and for awhile I was right.

As my eyelids slowly started to fall, sleep finally coming over me, a pain jolted back into my knee. It came so fast, so hard, so unexpected in my half-sleep induced state of mind that I screamed loudly.

Without much thought I yelled, "ZACH!" Before I even had the word completely out the bedroom door was slammed open leaving the hinges squeaking. Zach was by my side in a heartbeat asking me what was wrong.

"My knee," I said my voice cracking as I felt another shot of pain clamping down.

Zach threw the sheets away from my body finding my leg was bent in an unnatural way.

Resting a hand on it he tried to smooth it back out. I screamed and he let go instantly. I placed one hand on his shoulder in order to keep him away from my leg.

"Cammie, I'm going to have to straighten your leg out," Zach said as I shook my head. "Cameron, I'm not trying to hurt you, but we need to straighten you leg back out." My hand went limp as he took it away from his shoulder.

He went straight back to my leg and after an uncomfortable minute he had it laying the right way.

Turning over I mumbled foreign curses into the pillow while taking shallow breaths. _What was wrong with me?_

I fought back the urge to cry as I felt a hand gently placed on my lower back. There was breath against my ear. "Are you alright, Cammie?"

I nodded and then rolled back over pushing myself up into a sitting position. Zach was watching me and my legs through careful measured glances. It was silent for seventeen minutes and forty-three seconds. As if we were both expecting for something else to happen. But nothing did, thankfully.

"You can go," I mumbled out keeping my gaze directly on my legs. Zach looked up with narrowed eyes. "I'm fine, so you can go," I clarified. Only Zach didn't leave and didn't look like he was planning on doing so anytime soon.

He looked over at the phone as if preparing to make a call.

"I don't need to go to the hospital," I said, through clenched teeth. I was being stubborn, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to stay away from any needles—far, far away from them in fact.

Zach sighed. "I wasn't going to call the ambulance, Cam. I was thinking about calling Kelsie, the one who was here earlier, who was checking on you before."

"Oh, well, it's almost midnight…so you shouldn't call her either. Besides like I said I'm fine now. It was nothing."

"It was not nothing Cameron," Zach replied as he stood up. "Your leg"—he briefly touched my knee—"was bent unnaturally and was causing you pain. You were awoken from sleep because of pain." There was an emotion that flickered in his eyes as he backed away. He started pacing his voice rising with each step and each word. "You already had an…an, I don't even know what to call it, but it was anything from normal, anything from being nothing. Something is wrong Cameron, something that is far from nothing…"

I stopped listening to his rant and I think he stopped giving it to me directly. It was starting to sound more like he was talking just to talk, to blow off steam from anything that was filling him with anger. I, on the hand, was more focused on the queasiness I started to feel.

I shifted my legs over to the side of the bed and sat there gripping the edge while Zach continued pacing not noticing my transition. Sitting I could feel the color leaving my face as my body rocked slightly. Then within a second I was bolting for the bathroom, which stopped Zach in mid-rant.

"Cam—?" But I rushed right past him, swinging the door open, and landing in front of the toilet and puking. I could hear the door swinging to a close until someone stood in its way.

I felt my hair being pulled back away from my face but I didn't give it much thought. My mind was focused on other things such as the burning in my throat.

Washing my mouth out, I felt slightly better, still shaky on my feet as I let all my weight lean against the counter, but overall better. Now if I could just get the taste out of my mouth.

"I'm calling Kelsie in the morning," Zach stated as he walked back inside. He didn't allow me time to refute. "You need to be checked again. We need to make sure that this doesn't get any worse and the only way to do that is to have a doctor check on you."

I spat the toothpaste out and took a swig of water. "Fine." I grabbed the hand towel wiped my face and then left it on the sink. I wanted nothing but to sleep now and put this whole mess behind me. I turned towards Zach. "But for right now I'm going to sleep. Goodnight Zach." I walked out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom as Zach followed. That was when I noticed a pillow and blanket beside the bed.

Turning to Zach he said, "You didn't think I was letting you sleep alone after all that, did you?"

"Zach—"

"No, Cammie," he said stepping closer towards me. Too close for my comfort zone. "Your ill and I'm not going back out there just to wait to hear for your screams again."

Shaking my head I stepped back. "I don't need your persistence mind-set to watch over me. _I can take care of myself_." I glared at him.

"I'm not saying you can't, but as for right now you need help," he replied stepping forward leaning in and keeping his gaze straight on me.

Neither of us backed down right away and space wise it was unsettling for me, but I stood my ground.

With an exasperated sigh Zach leaned away. "Why won't you let me help you Cammie? Why won't you let me in?"

Biting my lip I didn't respond.

"Why are you acting like a brat!?" **(A/N: I really liked this line, for some reason)**

"I am not," I said offended and openmouthed.

Zach lifted an eyebrow. "Really, cause you could have fooled me." Shaking my head I stalked away. I heard Zach sigh again. "This is exactly what I mean Cameron. You walk away, you don't talk it out you just give up."

"I'm not giving up," I mumbled even as I now stood by the bed.

"Then prove it," he said waiting for my response.

I looked up gulping realizing Zach wasn't going to give up this conversation. I looked back down at the sheets. "I…I don't know what to do." I took a breath but it was quick as I stood away from the bed and looked straight at Zach. "I don't want to be here." I waved my hands around the room. "I want to be back at my grandparent's ranch. I want things to be back to normal where the director isn't erasing my memory and my friend isn't slamming doors for a reason I don't understand. I don't…I don't want this."

There was silence as Zach's gaze hardened. "You don't want me." **(A/N: The sneak peek which I'm sure had some of you quite worried.)**

Slightly shaking my head and glancing at the ground I said in a small voice, "I don't know." I racked a hand through my hair as I added, "I just want a life I understand." I sat down on the bed, although it was more like collapsed and this time it had nothing to do with the dizziness or queasiness. "Are you happy?"

"No, why would I be happy to hear all that?" He walked over to me while my eyes shifted upward. "But I am content that you told me what you felt instead of just walking away in anger. You know, it's not healthy?"

"Yeah, I know," I replied curling up on the bed.

"You should sleep. We'll talk in the morning."

"Are you going to stay here?"

"Yes, are you going to try to talk me out of it?"

I pondered it for a moment, my eyelids falling down more often and coming up more slowly. "No, I'm too tired."

"Good," Zach said. "Then sleep."

He started to settle down on the floor. "Hey Zach?" I asked while trying to stifle a yawn.

"What is it Cammie."

"How fearful was I before, exactly?"

He looked at me for a long moment a smirk starting to vaguely appear. "You were listening, weren't you?" He didn't wait for my response he just sighed and continued, "You were pretty on edge before. I don't know what it is was that you were so afraid of but there was no doubt you weren't afraid. As for right now you need to sleep more than anything, Cam." He looked at me his voice sounded faded, "Sleep."

And so that's just what I did as I closed my eyes. I could hear movement from beside me but only for a second. I didn't open my eyes again until light was shining.

**A/N: Alright, not sure if you would call that Zammie but they are making some progress. Next chapter if I don't add to it will have you in for a surprise and another old character will appear. Any guesses on who the character is?**


	11. Rough Day

**A/N: 100! Eeep! I've never reached that many reviews before, so this to me is big.**

**This chapter is dedicated to all those who have reviewed so far (enjoy!)**

Chapter 11: Rough Day

A few weeks passed by—two to be exact—and Kelsie would be calling any day now with the results. But in the meantime, in those past few weeks, do you know what happened to me?

Nothing…Absolutely nothing…

It was almost as if the episodes had never even taken place which actually made Zach even more concerned than before. Hovering over me every now and then until I told him I needed personal space to breathe. Still, nothing happened concerning my health after the night with my leg. And even I had to admit it was a little nerve wracking.

Still, my days consisted of staying at home sorting through old letters I had kept, journals I had written on, and documents on my lap-top. Each time I was trying to get closer to who I was before. And can you guess what happened there?

Yep, nothing.

Sure, the letters were sweet and beautiful mostly from relatives and I found a few interesting events that have occurred but nothing triggered a memory. While the journals and documents held only pointless facts not about my own life with descriptions that could go on for miles.

During the time I was reading and shifting through material Zach would tell me a story of a situation I didn't remember. It was always the stories that would lead me to snicker or laugh but never remember which then would make me even more depressed.

As for Zach he didn't stay with me full-time every day. He went back to work after the first week I was here, mainly because he had to. Leaving me on my own in the apartment with a phone always within reach and specific numbers on speed dial, but I never had to use one.

Then there were the few occasions Macey would come over and only her. Bex was still fuming so she wouldn't come. Liz, apparently, was put recently on a top of the line project that would leave her strapless for time, so I wasn't sure when I would see her, the new her.

* * *

I was sitting at the kitchen table when the front the door was slammed open followed by the series of one curse word in several different languages. Sounds like someone had a rough day.

Slowly I stood up and carefully walked to the doorway connecting the kitchen and living room. I peered out and saw Zach pacing back and forth. It was never a good thing when he paced, that much I have learned about him over the past weeks.

"Something went wrong at work?" I asked as Zach looked over at me not realizing I was there.

His forehead was creased and there was something far from light in his eyes. His face was stone cold, but it softened just a little. "I can't believe he's doing this," Zach said as he walked towards me and then past me into the kitchen. "If I…I would…I wish…Mr. Jacobson," he growled unable to finish a sentence. He opened the refrigerator searching its contents.

"What did Mr. Jacobson do now? Has he asked about me?"

Zach laughed but it sounded far from cheerful. "Oh you bet he has. He's constantly talking about 'how good of a spy you were' and 'what a shame you lost your memory.'" He stood up and looked over at me. "Oh but my favorite one is the 'do you think she'll stay in her marriage when she finally has the perfect chance to escape.'" Zach shook his head furiously at the statement. "I wish I could strangle him right now, but Solomon would kill me if I did that." He went back to looking around in the fridge.

"Why? Because it would ruin whatever plans you guys have been scheming?" I walked over to him and stood near the kitchen sink leaning against it. "The meetings you have without me that I do know about." My eyebrows lifted as I waited for Zach to respond.

He stood up, closed the refrigerator, and kept a firm grip on the two beers that were now in his hand. "Cameron, no offense intended, but at the moment you're a liability in every sense of the word." He set the beer on the counter and opened a drawer to pull out a bottle opener. "They still want you, Mr. Jacobson and the people he's working with. They aren't through with you yet and since you lost your memory you don't have the skills you used have. Memory wise you're a junior in high school." **(A/N: Last memory she has is the summer after her junior year.)** He opened both bottles as the fizz sounded throughout the room. "You're a disadvantage to us. It's better if you stay on the side-lines this time, sorry."

There was no way I could say I wasn't offended by that mainly because it was the truth. Zach was being bluntly honest with me, so how could I possibly be mad at him.

Still, I was hurt. I shrugged crossing my arms as he took a sip of his beer. "Your right, but that doesn't mean I have to stay completely on the side-lines. I can do at _least_ something rather than hang around the apartment all day. I've looked at everything single thing in here, twice!" Zach shook his head. "Maybe I can go back to work and…"

"No. You are not going anywhere near Mr. Jacobson," Zach stated not allowing me to finish the thought. "Look, Cammie, I know you want to help. You want to do something, I understand that, but at the moment the biggest help you can provide is doing absolutely nothing. Staying here and staying safe." He stared at me waiting for me to make a promise not to do anything or at least acknowledge the idea.

"Alright, but I'm letting you know now that I don't like this one bit," I told him.

He grinned back and replied, "I didn't ask for you to like it. I only want you to comply." He grabbed both beers and walked into the living room, sat down on the couch, and turned on the television.

It was such a mundane thing to do—sitting at home in front of the TV and drinking beer—that I was in slight shock. But then I snapped out of it and asked, "Isn't two beers a little much, Zach?" I walked into the living room to see him flipping through channels with one beer in his hand.

"I had a rough day," Zach responded taking a sip. "And it's only going to get rougher." He kept a straight face on now, but there was no missing the look of unhappiness.

"There's more to it than just what Mr. Jacobson has been asking about me, isn't there?"

"Yeah," Zach said setting the remote down next to the other beer. "He's sending me out on a mission in four weeks and two days. I can't get out of it, not without looking suspicious and I expect it's a mission that isn't meant for me to come back from."

"Oh." I sank down into the chair thinking it over. _He might not come back._ My heart sunk. "But, I still don't remember anything. You can't get out of it in order to stay with me."

Zach looked over at me with a faint smile and a certain new brightness in his eyes. He shook his head. "Unfortunately no, apparently I'm _one _of the _best_ so I'm _needed_ especially for this _high-risk_ mission. Besides I've spent several weeks prior taking care of you, one week I spent not going to work, and since there's no real guarantee that you will obtain your memory they don't see what point there is for me to stay here. If I haven't brought a memory back yet, what other point is there?"

_To be here with me, regardless._

The thought stunned me for a moment, but I shook it off.

"You'll be staying at Macey's place while I'm gone though. I've already spoken with her about it."

"I don't need to be babysat, Zach," I firmly stated a little annoyed. "I may not have all of my prior skills before but I have the base for them. I don't need to be looked after like a kid."

Zach sighed and looked over at me with a worn out look. "Cammie, can we not get into this tonight. I just want you to be safe and I have a strong hunch that Mr. Jacobson will attack while I'm gone. It makes sense that there is more than one reason in sending me off. And I want you to be safe as possible. So please, can we not fight over this?"

"But…okay," I sullenly agree.

"Thank you." He takes another sip of beer and turns the volume up on the television, which is currently sporting the news.

But, of course, it's the news that I've already seen earlier today, the same news that's been playing throughout the day. I look around the room bored.

Getting up Zach's asks, "You're not staying?" He doesn't look up his eyes still fixed to the television. You could see my reflection perfectly on the screen if you look the right way.

"No, I've seen this already. It's the only news that's been playing all day. That and the story about the kitten stuck in the police car's engine." I walked over to the kitchen calling over my shoulder, "But don't worry he's able to use one of his nine lives."

All I hear is Zach muttering, "At least he gets nine."

So for the next hour and a half I busy myself with trying to bring memories back. Trying to force them with will, but it doesn't turn out well. I get nowhere not that I really expected it to work but it was worth a shot.

"Hey," I hear Zach call softly. "Any luck?"

"No," I mutter as the word is muffled. I'm currently burying my head in my arms.

I hear Zach taking a few steps until he's behind me and then I hear the setting of a bottle next to me. I look up from my arms.

"Is that number two?" I ask with a smug smile.

He doesn't answer he just holds out a hand, which I cautiously slip mine into. He pulls me out of my seat and says, "I want to take you somewhere."

"Where?" I ask as he already starts walking to the front door.

"Now if I tell you I'll ruin the surprise." Zach opens the door and then takes a look at me doing a once-over while I refuse to blush. "But what I will tell you is that you need warmer clothes."

**A/N: Okay more Zach and Cammie, which I don't think you minded. Liz, who was the old character returning was suppose to be in this chapter. However I've decided to add some more Zach and Cammie time before I get to that scene. So, Liz will end up coming in a few more chapters away instead.**


	12. Ice Rink

**A/N: I'm spoiling you guys with all these quick updates. [insert sigh] Oh well ;)**

Chapter 12: Ice Rink

"An ice-skating rink, Zach? Really?" I asked when we arrived at our destination.

"I told you, you would need to wear something warm," Zach replied as he stepped onto the rink.

We were inside a small mall that was hardly crowded. In fact there was only one other couple with a small son on the rink. I watched as the boy fell down on the ice a few tears coming to his eyes. His parents—I assume—came over to him immediately as the father picked him up and whispered encouraging words to him while the mother held out her hand, palm open, a few inches in front of him. Cautiously and wide-eyed the boy skated slowly to his mother. When he reached her he grasped her hand with both of his small ones in a death grip and stared straight at the solid ice ground. He smiled—showing a few missing teeth in the process—from having made the very small successful skate without falling. His father came up beside him and held out his hand as the boy took it and slowly they skated with him in the middle as if they were teaching him how to walk for the first time. In this case it was skate.

There was tapping sound as I tore my gaze from the scene and looked over at Zach who was tapping on the glass to draw my attention. He was smirking, of course, while I rolled my eyes and stepped onto the rink. There was a problem though and that was I never really learned how to ice skate. My parents never took me when I was little and as far as I could remember I've never actually seen an ice rink before. But I could fake it, right?

Zach was already skating flawlessly away towards the middle of the ice rink expecting me to follow. I slid across the ice slowly feeling incredibly unstable and ill prepared and it didn't help with Zach watching my progress.

I kept going and almost fell flat on my face. I could hear Zach stifling a laugh as I glared at him. He came back over to me.

"Can't skate, Gallagher Girl?" he asked.

"Of course I can," I lied not wanting to admit it.

He shook his head. "Cammie, I know you can't skate. You didn't know how the first time when we were here and you landed right on your face because you were stubborn and didn't want to admit it. Do you want to repeat history?"

I looked at him angrily. "You know I can't skate so you just stand back watching, letting me look like a fool!?"

"Cam, there's only three other people here, who we don't know and are far too occupied with themselves to notice us. Besides you're the one who wants to lie and pretend to skate when you don't know how." He looks at me amused.

"Yeah…well, still," I replied still fuming and trying to keep the heat down in my cheeks.

"It's not that hard to learn," Zach said holding out a gloved hand. "Just take it nice and slow and lucky for you your muscles have already been through this. They know what to do."

Warily I take his hand and it closes around mine immediately. He starts skating slowly tugging me along.

I hold on tighter to his hand as I slide more than skate across the ice. "So, we've been here before?" I ask wanting a distraction. In the process I might as well learn more about my life.

"Yeah," Zach said smiling as he says it. I look at him with narrowed eyes.

He suddenly turns causing me to shriek and grasp my other hand to his arm leaning into him. And what does he do in response? He chuckles at my lack of balance and fright.

I punch him gently in the arm, but remain clinging to it. "Don't do that again, Zach."

"Alright, now do you want to learn how to skate without having to hold onto someone for dear life?" Zach asked as a blush comes that I can't cover up. I can feel the heat from his body next to mine and I can't help but not that it feels nice especially considering how cold the room is.

"Yes," I responded nimbly.

"Now, it's easy it's all about the lean and push—"

"The what?" I ask looking at him a little crazy.

"Lean and push, its pure physics. What you need to do is lean and dig your blades into the ice that will help increase the friction and your ability of control. Then to go faster you simply push your blade against the curved track and that's how you ice skate gracefully." **(A/N: I haven't ice-skated in years, literally. So everything Zach is telling her I got off Wikipedia so it might not be right.)**

I look down at the ice and see all the scratches made from the blades and wonder if it's as easy as he is making it out to be. "That's it?" I ask unsure.

"That's it," Zach insists slowly moving away from me.

Soon he's two feet away from me and I'm on my own in skating. I do exactly what he's said I lean and dig my blades and I glide nicely across the ice. Then pushing my luck I push against the ice and increase my speed. It goes smoothly and I smile at my progress before I realize Zach didn't teach me how to stop or how to turn and I barely see the wall in time.

I place both hands in front of me so I don't slam face first into the wall. Hitting the wall I try to grab onto something as I completely lose my balance, but there's nothing to grab onto so I fall onto the ice landing on my butt.

I hear distant laughing and look to see the little boy smiling and laughing while his parents are trying to quiet him down. So much for sweet and so much for being _not_ embarrassed.

Zach skates smoothly across the ice and stands in front of me looking a little guilty. "Guess I should've told you how to stop."

"You think," I replied angrily trying to stand up. He holds out a hand but I swat it away and stand up on my own. Then I fall forward still off-balanced and Zach catches me around the waist in an iron-like grip. "I really, _really_ hate the ice," I mutter blowing a strand of hair out of my eyes.

Zach helps me to re-balance. "Well, good thing we never moved to Alaska."

"Zach, why did you bring me here?" I ask not in the mood for jokes. "What's the point other than making me look like a fool?"

"You didn't look like a fool, Cam."

"I feel flat on my butt, I looked like a fool."

There's silence as Zach stares down at the ice. "So you don't have a clue why?" he asks sounding disappointed.

"Of course not, why would I be asking you if I knew the answer?" I respond frustrated. "Why take me to an ice-skating rink when you know I can't skate? Why is this place so special?"

"It's where I proposed to you," Zach answered looking up at me.

I stood there, surprised. "Really?" I asked not expecting any of this.

"Yes, I didn't plan it that way. It was sort of a spur of the moment type of thing," Zach said running a hand through his hair.

"What did I say when you asked?"

Zach grinned arched an eyebrow and replied, "You said 'yes.'"

"Well I know that, I can guess that," I replied with a roll of my eyes. "But what did I say exactly."

Letting out a breath he says, "You asked me 'what took you so long.'" A look of puzzlement crosses my face while Zach shakes his head grinning from ear to ear at the memory. "Apparently you knew I bought the engagement ring months prior, which I had been carrying around with me ever since I bought it. Macey, being Macey, decided to snoop around and found the ring one time in my jacket pocket. I always thought that eventually I would come up with a plan on how to propose to you, but nothing came so it just stayed in my pockets, always with me. Then when we were here goofing around and I was teaching you how to skate you fell almost exactly the way you just did and a few feet from this spot. You pouted and feigned hurt. I tried to help you up like before but instead of whacking my arm out of the way you decide it's more fun to pull me down with you in front of thirty-two strangers.

"And, then, well you grabbed my face and kissed me hard. Then you pulled away and laughed ignoring all the stares we were receiving. It was then I knew, I just knew, it was the right time. So I pulled out the small box from my pocket and presented it to you even doing the whole one knee thing, which by the way isn't fun on ice. And, well, you know the rest." He shrugged his shoulders looking across the ice.

"Wow," was all I could mutter for a moment. "That's sweet and not drawn-out and over-done with romance. It's more realistic, I like it." I nod my head thinking it over and starring at the ice.

"You liked it then too." Zach's breath was right against my ear. I turn my head quickly to see him gazing down at me. "You liked how it was impulsive, not overdone, and in the moment." He pushed a lock of hair behind my ear and leaned forward his breath caressing my face. "The same reason you liked Vegas when we decided to elope before having the actual wedding ceremony."

"Attention all shoppers the mall will be closing in ten minutes. Attention all shoppers the mall will be closing in ten minutes. Thank you."

Just like that the spell was broken and Zach leaned away and skated off.

"Wait," I shouted, following him. "Are you serious? We eloped in Vegas?" I asked partly mortified. I could see my mom going nuts if I even considered the idea let alone actually go through with it.

Zach looked back at me, gave me a wink, and only said, "You figure it out, Gallagher Girl. I can't give you everything." Then he was stepping out of the rink while I stopped right in the middle staring at the other couple, but more specifically the boy.

He was pointing at me and giggling but somehow it wasn't in a mean way. "You fwell down toooo?" he asked. "I saw you."

"Yes, you did," I replied.

"It's not fun fwalling. It's cold and hard when you fwall. You didn't know how to scatee either?" he asked pulling his parents forward even though they were pulling him away.

"No. I didn't, apparently."

He smiled again. "I didn't know either, but nows I'm not the only one. But my mommy and daddy are teaching me," he said looking up at the both of them. "Is he teaching you?" he asked looking over at Zach who was sitting on a bench watching us.

I lowered myself down closer to the boy's level. "Yes he is, but he's not a very good teacher," I said looking at Zach's reaction from the corner of my eye.

The little boy laughed looking at Zach and then back at me. "If he's not good then fwire him that's what granny allways says."

"Peter, it's time to go let's stop bothering the nice lady," his mother said obtaining her sons attention.

"It's alright," I said as Peter looked back at me. "It was nice to meet you Peter."

Before Peter was able to reply his parents were already dragging him off the rink and across the carpentered floor. Not before Peter had the chance to talk to Zach though.

"You need to be a better teacher or she'll fwire you," he said before he was gone.

I grinned while stepping out of the rink.

Zach watched me very carefully looking bemused. "You liked that little boy?" he asked as we walked past the benches.

"Yeah, I guess I did," I said twisting my engagement ring across my finger and subconsciously smiling.

"Cam do—Never mind," Zach said cutting himself off.

I looked up at him and tried to read his expression but came up empty. "Do I, what?"

"Forget about it," Zach said with a flick of his wrist. "Now we just need to go home and start preparing for another day." He holds out his arm as if to wrap it around my waist but then drops it instead.

Smiling still, I pick his arm up and wrap it around my waist earning a quizzical look from Zach which makes me want to laugh.

Tonight was turning into a great night.

**A/N: So what do you think? Was it Zammie? They didn't kiss but there was definitely intimate interaction. Regardless, they are making progress plus you found out how Zach proposed to Cammie. So, you know how to thank me for the **_**quick **_**update….REVIEW!**


	13. Unexpected Sights

Chapter 13: Unexpected Sights

And it was continuing to be a great night all the way until I heard the voice. **(A/N: Almost the last line for the previous chapter, but I decided not to leave you guys with a cliff hanger.)**

Zach and I were walking out into the crisp cool air away from the mall, his arm still around my waist. I wrapped my jacket tighter around myself and leaned into Zach more for warmth. That was when I heard, "Oh my gosh, Cammie!? Cammie Morgan, is that you?"

I turned around in shock breaking out of Zach's grip to see none other than DeeDee.

_No way!_

She ran right up to me without hesitation and enveloped me in a hug, typical DeeDee.

"It's been such a long time," she commented as she pulled away from me. "So much has probably happened since we last saw each other." She looked over at Zach and then to our rings as her eyes twinkled and she let out a squeak.

_Yeah, same old DeeDee._

"How long have you two been married, now?" she asked looking straight at me.

I, of course, didn't have an answer.

Zach answered instead coming up right behind me. "One year, four months, and sixteen days." I felt him rest his chin on the top of my head as I resisted the urge to swat him away while DeeDee just went _aweeeeeeeeeeeeeeee _in her ultra high-pitched voice.

I started to take a good look at her noting that she still had her heart-shaped face only with even more defiant features. She had golden bangs now that swept perfectly across her forward. Heart-shaped face, blue eyes, and golden blonde hair, she still had the same old American girl look. **(A/N: I really don't remember what DeeDee looked like and I tried searching it in the first book, but then I gave up. So if she has a different hair color or eye color than pretend her hair is dyed now or she got colored contacts.)**

I looked down at her outfit seeing long sleeves along with a skirt. This time pink was not the most dominant color for the outfit. Then on her hand flashed what looked like an engagement ring and a lump settled in my throat.

"So," I start wanting to break the silence. "What are you doing here?"

A wide smile came across DeeDee's face from the question. "I'm actually here helping my little cousin pick out a dress for my wedding next month. She's the flower girl," DeeDee stated sounding excited. "I can't believe it's only a month away."

"Who's the lucky guy?" I asked keeping a straight face. Behind me I felt Zach stiffen as he lifted his head away from mine.

"Daniel Richards," Dee replied. Her smile grew even wider, her eyes twinkled brighter, and there was no doubt that she wasn't happy.

"Well, then, I hope you and Daniel are very happy in the future to come." I turned ready to walk away when DeeDee grasped my hand keeping me in place.

"Thank you, Cammie, really it means a lot. I was wondering though if you would like to come to the wedding, we have so much to catch up on."

DeeDee looked so hopeful and so friendly I didn't see how I could turn her down without a reasonable excuse. "Well, I guess we can keep it in mind."

"Great," she said pulling out a wedding card invitation that was snow white with a pink ribbon in the right-hand corner. "There's all the information you need." She handed it to me and gave me yet another hug. "It was great seeing you again Cammie; I hope you can make it." She pulled back and turned her attention to Zach. "It was nice to see you again, Zach."

"Always a pleasure," Zach responded.

She smiled, winked at me, and then left heading straight back into the mall.

"Well…that was awkward," I said placing the card in my pocket. I turned to see Zach starring at me. "What?"

"Didn't seem that awkward to me," Zach said. His tone became more serious. "But I do wonder Cam if you were relieved when she said she was getting married to Daniel Richards." His gaze was heavy on me and made me feel suffocated.

I walked past him. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm happy for DeeDee and whoever this Daniel guy is. She seems absolutely thrilled."

"Yes, she does, but would you feel the same way now if she had said it was Josh instead. Josh Abrams?"

In my footsteps I froze. It was the first time Zach had called him by his real name, I think. I turned to Zach who was watching me closely. "Zach, I don't know what to tell you. Josh was my first boyfriend, nothing can change that, unless you have a time machine but that's beside the point. The point is that…that is all Josh will ever be, a first boyfriend. He will always remain a was, okay? We would never work out. We _could_ never work out." I started walking to the car not waiting for Zach and not stopping until I reached the passenger side of the car.

It wasn't long before the doors were unlocked and Zach and I were both slipping into the car. The whole car ride back to the apartment was anything from silent as we fought over the music stations. It was a friendly fight and because of it Josh went far away from my mind.

* * *

Sighing I slipped off my shoes and shrugged out of my jacket the minute we stepped inside the apartment. Today had been a much crazier day than expected, but more joyful than the rest. And for the first time I didn't want to wake up from a dream, not yet.

"Do you want some coffee?" Zach asked heading into the kitchen.

"No, I think I'll just go to bed."

"It isn't even eleven yet, Cams," Zach called as he started making himself a pitcher.

I shrugged heading for the bedroom regardless. "I know, but I don't feel like staying up."

"Are you sure? You never know what late night shows you're missing out on."

I laughed at that one. "Oh, yeah, the sponsored commercials are a real bummer to miss." I turned stepped into the bedroom, called, "I'll see you in the morning," and then I shut the door.

I slipped on a pair of slacks and then threw on a tank top before I jumped, literally, into the bed and crawled under the covers.

Zach and I had come to an agreement several weeks prior on our sleeping arrangements. One night I would sleep in the bed and Zach on the couch and the next we'd switch and continually do this. It was a compromise between the two of us and the only one we could agree on.

There was a knock at the door, which was strange. Zach usually didn't bother me when I was in bed.

"Yes?" I asked.

He opened the door only wide enough for his head to poke through. "I was just wondering how you were feeling?"

"I'm fine Zach," I replied nonchalant. Then suddenly I sat straight up the covers falling down to my waist. "Why, has Kelsie contacted you somehow—?"

Zach shook his head. "No, I was just checking. Making sure you were alright."

I fought back the smile as I replied, "Like I said before Zach, I'm fine. Anything else?"

"No, that was it. Goodnight then?"

"Goodnight Zach."

"Goodnight Cammie. Sweet dreams."

**A/N: WARNING: Future chapters are going to be in the ratings of major T and will be darker.**


	14. Late Video

**A/N: Just wrote the action/ending scene to the story and I'm really excited about it. I think it turned out great now I just have to write all the chapters in-between…**

Chapter 14: Late Video

"_Zach…"_

_The voice sounded foreign to my ears yet somehow I knew it was my own._

"_Gallagher Girl…"_

_I felt a smile spread across my lips. Everything felt strange and light while at the same time tight and heavy. Then the scream came out that had been building up in the back of my throat, but I wasn't in any pain. I didn't understand it, but I didn't care._

_Something soft and silky came up from behind me. It felt so cool and inviting._

_My eyes were open, I could feel it, but there was nothing in my sight but bright lights. I could feel myself breathing heavily. Then there was a faint touch on the side of my face, like a breath._

_I looked over and blinked as my vision started to clear, the blinding light fading. There was a silhouette of a person by me that was all I could see for the moment._

_But I could feel their breath against my cheek which sent a pleasing chill down my spine. I closed my eyes savoring every touch as I felt something incredibly warm and solid against my cheek._

"_I love you Cameron. Remember?"_

_I opened my eyes to be met directly with Zach's emerald green gaze._

"_What?" I asked, my voice still sounding unfamiliar and winded._

_His eyes became serious, a smile no longer on his face. "Remember, Cameron? Do you remember?"_

"_Remember…remember what?" Nothing felt pleasurable anymore. Everything seemed suddenly cold as if the temperature of the room was turned down tremendously. Behind me it turned from silky smooth to cold steel. I could almost see my breath. "Zach…" I choked out. There was a strange poking feeling against the back of my neck. "Zach, I'm scared. I don't know what to do? I don't know how to stop it?" The tears were building up in my eyes as Zach's fingers grazed my cheeks._

_He hovered over me—no longer by my side—and was staring down at me with a stern, caring gaze. "Remember Cammie, you need to remember." He bent down and I felt his lips upon mine._

_I savored every moment of it loving the feel before he backed out. I missed the warmth immediately._

"_I think…."_

I woke with a start, feeling dizzy and blinded by the light for twenty two seconds.

Yawning I shook my head and stood up walking straight over to the mirror. Seeing the sight of myself I immediately took a step backwards. I looked…flushed.

My hand immediately went to my cheek and it felt incredibly warm.

Then I remembered I had a dream, a strange dream. I closed my eyes trying to remember. I remembered the feeling of being out of breath—had I been in a race? Then I remembered Zach's face and he was telling me something. He was also…kissing me.

I touched my lips still feeling the memory of the dream kiss. They had been so soft, so enticing. Had I been having a memory, possibly?

I wasn't sure. The dream was so vague to me now.

Shaking my head at the thought I started getting ready for the day. This day brought a long-awaiting guest to the door—well more specifically Macey brought the guest.

* * *

"Liz," I shouted running up to my friend and wrapping her small body up in a hug.

She was the one who looked the most like she did as a teenager. Still shy and clumsy and I was pretty sure she hadn't grown an inch. Regardless there was still something about her that did change from age but I couldn't figure out what it was.

"I'm sorry I couldn't see you until now. I'm really sorry I didn't keep my promise," Liz told me softly through the hug.

I pulled back confused as Liz looked guilty. "What do mean keep your promise?"

While kicking imaginary dirt Liz answered, "Before you lost your memory you asked me to show you a video as quickly as possible. You made me promise to show you it with the max of it being four days late. It had to do with Mr. Jacobson, about what happened and why that's what you told me." She looked up at me with sad eyes. "But I've been so busy and tired with Mr. Jacobson making me work overtime. All that's been on my mind are numbers and so I…uh…I forget about the video until yesterday. I'm sorry, really, for not keeping the promise. It sounded important and…" She would have kept going on like that had I not stopped her.

"Liz, calm down," I said grabbing her hands stopping her jammer. "I know and I understand that you didn't mean to break your promise. And you know I'm sure its fine that it happened. Mr. Jacobson hasn't done anything to me yet so maybe it's just me telling myself what he might do or like you said why this happened." I gave a quick glance at Macey. "Although I already have a faint idea of what it is. Anyway, better late than never, right?"

Liz nodded looking extremely relieved and with that we talked for a few minutes before heading over to Liz's house to watch the video.

When we reached the end of the hall I distantly heard the phone ring from inside the apartment.

I had a feeling I knew who it was as I looked back over my shoulder at the front door.

"Cammie if—?"

"No, there's no need Liz, the machine will get it. It can wait a few hours."

* * *

We arrived at Liz's very spacious apartment in twenty minutes. It was small and cozy but luxurious and certainly modern with a lot of technology all over the place.

"I'm sorry about the mess," Liz said in an apologetic tone. "I haven't had time to clean," she added.

Carefully and cautiously I stepped over what looked like a sound board that was torn apart. The apartment was filled with electronics mostly computer related and nearly half of the items weren't together but in pieces on the floor.

Macey was shaking her head looking at the destruction. "Liz, do you really need to tear apart your own property?"

"They're just experiments," Liz replied as she bent down to examine a shelf full of disks. "Now let me see…yes, this is the one." She pulled out one of the disks, glancing at it before turning her attention back over to Macey and me. "This is what you wanted yourself to see." She handed me the disk that suddenly felt like a time bomb and a very heavy one at that. "Do you want to watch it alone?" Liz asked as if sensing my uneasiness.

Flipping it my hands I said, "Well…"

"You told me it might be best if you watched it first by yourself," Liz said looking over at Macey.

"Why?" Macey asked no one in particular before letting out a sigh. "Fine. Let's see the mess you have in your bedroom. You better still have those clothes I gave you though," Macey stated heading through one of the doors.

Liz bit her lip looking at Macey's retreat before turning attention over to me. "There's the television," she said pointing over to it over at the far end of the wall. "Just slip the disk inside, make sure you're in video mode, and then press play."

* * *

The screen flickered and then I was starring at myself adjusting a video camera. So I was recording this video alone as well. I watched myself closely noticing that there was something very different about my presence this time. I looked very tired and very old at twenty-four.

"Alright Cameron, now I'm sure the past few days of this life has probably been confusing and overwhelming for you. And you may or may not have caught on that not everything is making sense and that something is very wrong." My screen version exhaled a sigh. "It is simply because you are right and something is wrong and I wish I could tell you what it is, but I haven't been able to figure it out that far. All I can tell you is that Mr. Jacobson works for the Circle of Cavan along with many of his colleagues and that the Circle of Cavan wants something, something big." There was a pause as I stared hard at the video camera.

"Now you first thought might be a bomb, but that's not it I've checked multiple times. But I think it is something like a bomb that it is something designed to destroy and that it is technologically based. In fact it is the next step in technology, I think. However, I don't think what they want is designed to kill exactly. I can't explain it, but what I am sure of is that whatever the Circle Cavan wants they can't have it Cameron. If they exceed in obtaining this then I fear they will have a lot of control, there will be a lot of power in the wrong hands. What you need to do is find out what it is they want and destroy it but be careful because I'm sure Mr. Jacobson won't be through with me quite yet."

There was silence as my present self thought over my new mission while my past self just sat there for a few minutes in silence with a look of pure concentration.

"Oh and Cameron…" Looking down at my lap I brushed hair behind my ear. I knew instantly that what I was about to say was major. I looked back up at the camera with a slight, nervous smile on my face. "You're pregnant about five weeks along now. Good luck." The camera was turned off and I blinked rapidly.

No one had been with me watching the video and I was glad for that fact. I practically went into a nervous breakdown as my breathing hitched.

_PREGNANT! FIVE WEEKS! Or, wait no, more like seven to eight!_

"Oh, oh, oh…baby." I looked down at my stomach and put my hand against it. There was no bulge nothing noticeable, but that wasn't really a good thing was it if I've past the first month already. "I am not ready for this."

And the proof came sooner than expected.

**A/N: Not sure how you will react to this chapter, so it will be interesting to see. Review!**


	15. Lost Child

Chapter 15: Lost Child

I sat there frozen on the floor. A tear rolled down my cheek that I quickly wiped away. This shouldn't be happening.

I was crying over a child I lost that I didn't even realized I had nor was I ready to have. This was not right; I would not let myself feel this way. But no matter what I thought it didn't stop the tears that slid down my cheek that was soon replaced by sobs that racked across my body. It was as if physically my body understood the loss that mentally I didn't.

And I started to wonder if I had wanted this child, if this child had been planned or was a surprise. I'm guessing surprise if I found out through a video.

"Cammie?" Macey asked through the bathroom door two hours later. "Are you okay? You have been in there a long time, Cam."

"…No…" That was all I said in a voice barest above a whisper. It was enough though for Macey to hear me and so she busted the door down.

The next thing I know I was being taken straight to Kelsie's house.

* * *

"So, honey, how was your day?" Zach asked in a fake cheery voice. He sounded like a fifties/sixties TV show which was exactly the point as he stood at the front door with hands to his hips and a fake, wide smile across his face.

I wanted to laugh, desperately, but nothing came out as I stared at him.

Slowly his smile faded, his hands left his side, and he came over to me in the chair. "What's the matter Cammie? What happened?"

_How can I possibly tell him?_

I gave him a tight smile. "Nothing, I just saw Liz today with Macey, that's all." There wasn't a way I could break the news to him easily.

"Cameron?" he prodded, not buying what I told him. "Tell me, come on I thought we were getting better at telling each other what's on our minds." And we really had been—things had started to get better until today. "Do you really want to take a step backwards?"

My lip quivered. "No," I replied blinking away stray tears.

He lowered himself so he was squatting on the floor eye level to me. "Tell me Cameron, what else happened today?"

"I…I lost something…important." My voice trembled.

Zach's eyebrow came together in a quizzical way. "Well, whatever it is Cameron I'm sure we can find it again or replace it. It's not—"

"It's not that kind of lost," I finished for him. "It's the kind you can't get back. It's the kind you lose…for good."

Still Zach didn't seem to get what I was trying to say. He was trying to make everything all right when it couldn't be. "We can still look. Regardless it doesn't matter. Whatever it was doesn't matter," he said in a soothing tone as the tears started to fall from my eyes.

"How can you say that?" I shouted at him angry and crying. Tears were making my vision blurry but I could still see the surprise on Zach's face. "How can you say such a vile thing! Of course it matters, it mattered, he or she mattered." I stood up walking away from Zach.

"He or she?" he asked himself softly. "Cammie, wait!" I was already out in the hallway. "Cameron." He grabbed my arm to stop me and hold me in place. "What are you trying to tell me? What went wrong? What did you lose?"

"A BABY!" I shouted turning on him fiercely as he let go of me. "A child I didn't even remember I had. Zachary, I had a miscarriage." Then I ran straight to the bathroom shutting and locking the door behind me.

But it didn't matter because Zach never followed me and so I just sat there on the cold, marble floor crying until I had no more tears but it didn't stop the sobbing. I continued to dry sob until I finally fell asleep.

* * *

*Upcoming Scene was incredibly hard to write*

"Mom…" I mumbled staring up sleepy eyed at the woman who broke through the bathroom door. Bathroom doors were being broken down left and right these days.

In minutes she had swept me up in a tight hug. "Zachary called and told me everything," she told me in a quiet voice. "I'm so sorry honey." She kissed the top of my head and held me tighter.

"It's just…I…" I couldn't finish my sentence as the tears—it's amazing I could still produce them—came down in streams across my face.

But my mom didn't let me say anything she just held onto me, rocked me back and forth slightly, while whispering reassuring things over and over again. As if it could make it all better, make everything right, and for the moment I let it. I pretended everything was all right, but only for a moment.

When things calmed down my mom and I relocated settling down in the kitchen. A hot cup of tea was in front of both of us.

"I didn't even know I was pregnant until…well until I guess it was too late," I said staring down at my tea watching the milky swirls.

It reminded me of my grandparent's ranch. Back when I was little and it used to be hot chocolate with my grandmother sitting next to me. Problems were a lot more simple and easier to solve back then. It was a time I missed more than anything.

Taking a breath I asked, "Nobody else knew, did they?" It was a question I was sure I knew the answer to but I had to make sure I was right. And if I wasn't right…Would it make a difference?

I looked up at my mom who was shaking her head.

Twirling a spoon in her cup she said, "No, you kept that a secret apparently. But why I do not understand." She paused taking the spoon out. "I didn't believe it when Zach called and told me. The first thing he said was that you were pregnant. I was shocked that I didn't really pay much attention to the 'was' part. It was several minutes after my ramble before he clarified himself by saying you had a miscarriage and had yourself locked in the bathroom."

I nodded subconsciously wrapping my fingers tightly around the handle of my mug, feeling the cold ceramic against my fingers. "He's not here, is he." I didn't need to ask I could already tell.

"No," my mom said simply. "He left for work said he couldn't stay."

"Sure, he couldn't," I replied snidely bringing the cup to my lips. The liquid went down my throat, steaming hot. Yet no warmth came through me and the hotness in my throat vanished all too quickly. I felt hollow and lonely even though I wasn't alone and I was whole.

My mom reached over placing her hand over mine and giving it a tight squeeze. I didn't look up to meet her eyes. "Honey, you have to realize this is hard on him too and this—whether or not you like it or agree with it—is how he is dealing with the situation."

"He didn't go through it. He didn't feel the pain. He didn't see…" I couldn't finish because of the flashes that were shooting across my mind. I ripped my hand away from my mother's and brought it to my face. I sniffled. "How can this possibly be hard on him when he didn't go through what I did?"

I felt my mom's place her hand on my back as she starting rubbing circles the way she used to when I was little. "Because, Cammie, this was not just _your_ child. Yes, you had to go through the actual miscarriage alone. You had to see things Zach did not, but it was _his_ child just as well it was _yours_. It meant a great deal for the both of you. It came from the two of you."

Letting my hand fall to the table I looked at my mom with newly wet eyes. She had stopped rubbing my back waiting for me to say something next. "Why did my life have to get so screwed up? Why?" Was all I said as I rested my head on the table and took in deep, shaky breaths.

**A/N: Okay, so some of you may hate me right now for this [cringes from wooden stakes and the forming mob]. But this was something I decided was going to happen awhile back and I'm not going to go and change it. There was a reason for it and I did think about other options such as her thinking about an abortion, going through the pregnancy and having a healthy baby [which I'm sure is what most of you would have preferred and expected], her having a stillborn, or a child that simply doesn't live long after birth. But I am sticking with the miscarriage, so the next chapters will be her dealing with that issue and Zach as well before the major plot turner is thrown in. While you may still have hated this chapter you have to admit you didn't see this coming. It wasn't predictable which is one of my main goals.**

**And in the case that you do hate this chapter I'll give you this sneak peek of the next chapter:**

His hand caressed my burning cheeks when he was only a few inches away. His lips met mine and instantly my eyes closed as if on cue. It was a mere peck that slowly turned into more.


	16. Sooner Not Later

Chapter 16: Sooner Not Later

It had been three weeks and Zach and I hadn't said a single word to each other. Not that we had much time to as Zach always seemed to be out of the house now either he was at work or with Macey or Solomon. For once, I was actually missing his company. It would take even days before I got to catch a glimpse of him at times and we running out of time. In two days he would be sent out and I didn't want things left the way they were.

At the moment was the record for the longest time Zach was out of the house. It set at eighty three hours when I finally heard Zach entering and muttering a few foreign words (all of which I knew) under his breath. I stood up from the kitchen table and walked into the living room as he set down his jacket.

Awkwardly I said, "Hi."

He turned and looked over at me surprised. "Hi," he replied back just as awkwardly.

"How is everything going at work?" I asked playing with my hands.

He froze just staring at me with curious eyes. "Not well, but things will eventually turn around. How are things here?"

I shrugged. "Boring, though, Mrs. Huffington is starting to come around more and more frequently. I think I liked it better when we had ruffled her from coming over awhile back."

A hearty laugh followed that brought my own heartbeat up in speed. "Yeah," he agreed. "But with Mrs. Huffington discouragement never lasts no matter what you do or say." Silence filled the room as he looked like he was in a debate with himself over what to say next. "So, are you feeling okay?"

He was trying to move around the issue we hadn't discussed as gently as possible.

"No," I stated. Thinking it over and shaking my head in the process as he looked over at me. "And I don't think I will be for awhile. This isn't—" I took in a breath. "A miscarriage isn't something I can just get over after a certain amount of time even if I didn't know I was carrying. It just won't happen that way."

"I know."

"Do you?"

He walked over to me and gripped both my arms as I shifted my vision away from him. Feeling completely self-conscience and wondering why I opened this can of worms. "I know that even though you might not have realized you were carrying a child, our child, you still feel a lost for it." I nodded my head but didn't look at him. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked watching me closely.

"I…maybe," I replied with a shrug.

He let go of my arms and in exchange took my hand. He led me over to the couch. We sat down and I started to fiddle with my hair.

"It's strange," I said after a few minutes of silent. "I don't understand what it is I'm feeling entirely. I just know that I feel a loss, that somehow I don't feel complete. And…it's kind of hard to sleep at night because I keep seeing that strange little body again, sometimes."

Zach seemed to understand as he took it in. "So that's why you've been sleeping at night later and later?"

"Yeah and...," I said feeling his gaze heavy on me. _And because of you._ "And yeah that's the complete reason."

I felt his fingers against my cheek, a strange familiar feeling. My eyes closed instantly as I concentrated all my energy on my breathing. "I'm sorry Cammie," I vaguely heard Zach say. "I'm sorry that you lost the child. I'm sorry that I can't find the reason you did..."

"Wait, what?" I asked opening my eyes and turning to him.

He sighed taking his fingers away. "I went to speak with Kelsie the morning after you told me what happened. I wanted to know why you lost the child. But she didn't know why either. Your young and healthy and she told me that there is absolutely _nothing_ wrong with you. The only thing that came up on her results was that you were pregnant and that was it. She doesn't understand what happened to your leg that one night or anything else that didn't connect to your pregnancy and she certainly doesn't understand why you had a miscarriage."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, and we might never actually know why," he said as if it was official. But I didn't want that answer I wanted to know exactly what happened even if there was the chance that the answer might never be found. It was enough for me just to look.

So we continued to talk, trying to come up with answers to all our questions, all the way until I broke down again.

* * *

His arms wrapped around my waist pulling me in closer to him. I rested the side of my head on his shoulder and willed myself not to cry. I took in deep breaths as circles were rubbed against my back.

It was perfect and each minute that went by I felt myself relaxing not necessarily on my own free will. It seemed that mentally I couldn't remember, but physically I never forgot. Everything fit the way it was supposed to without any cue from me.

What felt like an hour was really only twenty-five minutes and fifty-three seconds. I leaned back and stared into Zach's eyes. His hands still held tight against my waist as I now sat in his lap.

He tucked my hair behind my ear in a swift motion and then started slowly to lean forward as if testing the waters as he kept getting closer to my face.

I tried to keep my breathing steady. Mentally I was yelling _Move! Get UP! _But my body refused to cooperate as I sat there like a statue.

His hand caressed my burning cheeks when he was only a few inches away. His lips met mine and instantly my eyes closed as if on cue. It was a mere peck that slowly turned into more.

My mouth parted and a chill went down my spine as Zach's tongue flicked inside. It was hard to think that this wasn't new territory that I had more than likely done this all before.

Vaguely I was aware of the change in position as I was pushed on my back onto the couch. My senses were all focused on one priority as the kiss turned rough.

Hands slid up my sides and Zach's mouth left mine now going straight for my neck. I breathed air in heavily trying to get as much oxygen into my brain in order to stop this. Even though stopping was the last thing I wanted.

"_Zach_…" I said in what came out as a moan.

Nothing was going the way it needed to as I tilted my head to the side and up giving Zach more access. It was bad enough that I was letting this happen but now I was actually encouraging him.

Well, maybe….NO!

A gasp came out as I felt a cold hand on my lower abdomen from a hand having slipped under my shirt. "Zach!" I said much more sternly.

I only received a vague, inaudible response.

Looks like I had to use force. Firmly I pushed against his shoulders away from my body. He stared down at me breathing roughly.

"I'm sorry," I said seeing the wounded look in his eyes. "I can—I'm sorry." I escaped out from underneath him and went straight into the bedroom, sliding down the door as soon as I closed it. I brought my fingers to my lips and touched them still feeling a spark and still hardly believing the shivers that racked across my body.

This was nothing I had ever remembered experiencing before. It was electrify and I wanted it desperately. But I couldn't just give in yet. This…this was still all too weird.

I stared across at the far wall where the suitcases sat. Packed and waiting to be taken away with me to Macey's apartment.

_What if he never comes back?_

It was a thought that kept on invading my mind and only recently did the next thought follow behind it.

_What if I never come back?_

Suddenly the apartment felt a lot colder as if sensing that it might lose its current residents.

* * *

Walking down the short flight of steps in the apartment my hair swung back in forth in the tight ponytail I had it up in. Something seemed different as I reached the last floor. A shift in the atmosphere I couldn't explain. I wasn't sure if it was good or bad yet.

I stepped into the room that held the P.O. boxes where the mail resided. I went straight to my number and unlocked it with the key I was holding. I pulled out the letters from the box and shifted through them.

Most of it was junk mail, but there was a letter from DeeDee as I remembered that her wedding was in less than a week now. Holding the letter in my hand I wondered if I should open it and see what it said or to just throw it away. It wasn't as if I was planning on going to the wedding. Why would I if I wasn't good friends with the bride or groom more like an acquaintance and a strange one at that.

Suddenly there was laughter coming nearby as I turned my head at the same time Mrs. Huffington walked in with someone I didn't know or at least I didn't think I knew him. He was young and he was foreign and he was smiling while Mrs. Huffington was trying to contain control of her laughter.

"How true, how so very true Sai," Mrs. Huffington was saying while shaking her head and smiling. That was when she took notice of me. "Ah, Cameron dear, I'd like you to meet Sai Pastrana the newest resident in the building. Sai this is Cameron Goode."

He held out his hand as I took it in mine. I noted how it felt rough as if he had done a lot of outside work in his short lifetime as well as the fact that his hand was quite larger than mine.

Staring up at him I would put him two to three inches taller than Zach. His eyes were dark brown almost black and his smile was charming. Overall he was a handsome, attractive guy not as handsome as Zach. Not that Zach was _that_ handsome, but…well, he was good looking.

A blush started to form in my cheeks as I saw the weird look Mrs. Huffington was giving me and the large grin Sai was showing. Immediately I dropped Sai's hand realizing I had been shaking it a lot longer than necessary as he said, "Well, it's nice to meet you Ms. Cameron Goode, or is it Mrs.?"

"Ms—Mrs.," I said catching myself at the last second. "Mrs. Cameron Goode."

He nodded as Mrs. Huffington stepped back into the conversation. "Sai here is in the States for executive work," she said glowing as if this were her own grandson. Which I was ninety nine point nine percent sure it wasn't. He was just a stranger that impressed and captured the attention of Mrs. Huffington not that that was a hard feat.

"It's only temporary though," Sai added feeling the need to elaborate. "I won't be here long, which speaking of which I need to get down to the office." He looked down at his watch taking in the time. "You know how hard it is to drive in traffic here, one of the biggest culture shocks." Then Sai left with a small wave of his hand.

Mrs. Huffington smiled watching him leave. "What a sweet boy." Then she turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "So where is your _husband_ now, dear?" There was no mistaking the concerned tone and I guess I couldn't exactly blame her with the way I had been previously acting with Sai, which I hadn't done on purpose.

"He's in the room packing," I said briefly. It was always best to keep answers short and sweet.

"Oh, are you two going on a trip?" Mrs. Huffington asked curiously.

I shook my head sadly wishing that was the real reason. It would have been nice to get away from it all. "It's a business trip," I told her and wondered if I should add that I would be staying with a friend instead of here. I decided against it seeing that I spared enough information with Mrs. Huffington as it is. You can never be too careful.

"Ah, I remember those. Charles took many he was an executive too, have I told you that…" This then started a long conversation about Mrs. Huffington's past life when she was young. One of which I didn't ask for but I didn't try to stop either.

* * *

It was forty-six minutes and twenty-two seconds later before I entered my apartment room again.

Zach saw me and raised an eyebrow as I set the mail down not carrying for any of it. "I thought you were only getting the mail?" he asked.

"I ran into Mrs. Huffington," I told him as I sat down on the couch. Zach nodded understanding even as I continued on. "She was telling me a story about her husband and the many business trips he had to take. There was one very interesting one to Peru she was telling me before I finally got the chance to get away." I slipped off my shoes and positioned them underneath the coffee table. "Zach?" I asked standing up and walking towards the kitchen where he currently was standing in.

"Hmmm," he replied filling a glass with water.

"Do I know anyone by the name of Sai Pastrana?"

He looked at me with a blank face. "No, why?"

"No reason," I said dismissing it. It wasn't as if Sai looked familiar to me, but I still couldn't shake off this déjà feeling. Maybe the reason will eventually come to me. "Has anyone called while I was out?" I asked changing the subject.

"Yeah, Kelsie, she just wanted to see if everything was still okay." He looked over at me waiting for reassurance.

"I'm fine. Everything is fine."

Zach took a drink from the glass as he said under his breath, "For now."

**A/N: You know what comes next…review…**


	17. Unanswered Calls

Chapter 17: Unanswered Calls

I looked around the small one-story house where I would be staying in for some time before I turned back around and looked at Zach. He was leaving today and he had to leave the house in a few minutes in order to catch his plane.

He was texting on his phone with one hand while his other hand held the phone. His fingers were going lightning fast.

I wondered what he was texting. It couldn't be anything major unless it was code and even then that was dangerous with the chance of a paper trail.

"So, you will be staying in the guest bedroom down in the far hall on the right," Macey stated walking back into the room. I turned towards her. "You're pretty much free to do what you want…" I knew Zach was giving her a look by the way she rolled her eyes at him. "Except for anything that puts you in danger. I think that should cover it all." She started walking into the open kitchen area.

I turned towards Zach feeling his gaze on me and then seeing it. His cell-phone was put away in his pocket and he was just staring at me with those hypnotic green eyes. Quickly I closed the distance and hugged him resting a side of my face against his shoulder.

His arms wound themselves around my waist pulling me closer to him. He leaned down and I could feel his face buried in my hair. I smiled and was glad my face was hidden from him and Macey.

"I'll miss you," I told him in almost a whisper. His arms tightened and I almost thought he wouldn't let me go. "Come back?" I asked. My voice was shaking just the slightest so that if you weren't close by you wouldn't have heard the tremor.

But Zach was close and he did hear it and he chuckled in response. His body vibrated from the laugh against my own causing me to shake with him. His face left my hair and was replaced by a hand that intertwined with my locks.

"I will come back as soon as I can," he said right next to my ear. His breath practically caressing my ear and I was glad I already had something to hold on to as my knees wobbled.

"Yeah, but don't get careless," I heard Macey shout.

"Glad you care so much McHenry."

"I don't it's just that if you die you completely ruin our plan. It's bad enough you're leaving, which throws us off having to do things earlier and without you." I heard her footsteps walking away down the hall.

"Cammie?" he asked amusement in his voice.

"Hmmm…yeah?"

His hand untangled from my hair. "You're going to have to let me go. I need to leave."

Immediately I let go of Zach stepping away and composing myself.

"I'll be back soon," he told me as I nodded. Then he walked out the front door and left and there was a pain I felt deep inside.

Feeling a hard gaze on me I turned to see Macey standing in the beginning of the hallway with a smirk on her face and eyes bright. "It looks like you two are getting closer again," she said while I kept my face neutral.

"Yeah…I guess you could say that," I replied trying to stay nonchalant.

However Macey laughed while walking straight into the kitchen. "You know I forgot how naïve you were when we were teenagers."

Ouch, that stung. Being a spy and being called naïve wasn't good. Although being called naïve period wasn't exactly a compliment. Not many people were striving for that characteristic.

"I'm not naïve," I argued joining her in the kitchen.

Macey opened the refrigerator, pulling out a beer, and turned to me. "Yes, you are Cammie. When it comes to boys, the opposite _sex_, you most certainly are naïve." She opened the cap and took a long sip. "Of course that changed after graduation, but unfortunately you don't remember that far, yet." She shrugged her shoulders and stared off far away as if recalling a memory, one that I couldn't.

"What happened at graduation?" I asked perplexed.

A smile spread across Macey's face as she turned to look at me. "It's not that easy to tell Cameron. It's something easier to see, to remember." She walked past me grabbing papers off the counter. "Now, you can help yourself to anything in the fridge or watch anything on the TV. I will be in my study working until ten minutes before one. Then we'll go out shopping with Liz." Her gaze turned up at me looking quite serious. "Because I know Liz needs a new wardrobe and I wouldn't be surprised if you don't as well. It's been awhile since we went shopping." Then Macey left with all the papers tucked under her arm.

_Now I had to go on a shopping trip with Macey, terrific!...And after being called naïve._

I opened the refrigerator door searching through the contents when I heard the ring tone of my cell-phone. I paused and stood up walking over to the bedroom I would currently be sleeping in. When I entered the room I stood still because the ringing had stopped. _Weird._

My cell-phone was laying right there on the bed motionless. I walked over and picked it up searching through the call entries and listening to voicemail, but nothing came up.

They must have hung up too fast, I assured myself, even though I only half-believed that excuse.

I walked out of the room—cell phone in pocket—when I heard another ringing again, but I was sure it wasn't my phone this time. It sounded more like a telephone one that I was sure Macey would pick up as I walked back into the kitchen. Only she didn't pick up and the ringing stopped after two minutes.

It started again barely a minute later. After the second ring sounded I shouted, "Macey can you get that?"

To which she responded, "Get what?" She sounded frustrated and a little annoyed. Maybe she was concentrating on her work too much to pay attention to anything else.

"Don't you hear it?" I asked. "The phone?"

I heard mumbles as she said, "Yeah, the phone next door sure I can hear it." Another ring inside the house sounded

Shaking my head I decided to let her continue her work while I picked up the still ringing phone in the living room.

"Hello?" I asked.

The only answer I received was the dial tone.

Staring at the phone in my hand I mumbled to myself, "They had to have just hung up." I placed the phone back in its cradle. Suddenly I wanted to go on the shopping trip, to be outside and fast. I went back to the kitchen grabbed a water and drank it quickly. The room was feeling warmer while I felt an incredibly thirst for a drink.

Yeah, I really wanted to get out of this house.

**A/N: Okay so my last school assignment was last Friday at ten, which means I'm out of school. More chances to update, right? Unfortunately, no, this summer will be one of my busiest yet, but I'll try to update when I can. So until the next update comes, review.**


	18. Memories

**A/N: Yes, I finally have updated. I'm sorry it took so long but I haven't had that much time during the summer and I haven't exactly felt like writing. But at least I have this posted before I leave again on Thursday.**

Chapter 18: Memories

It was almost four when the shopping trip finally seemed to come to a close. Now Macey was the only one still shopping while Liz and I went through the motions of trying outfits on and making comments on certain style choices.

It hadn't been long in the trip that I noticed Macey was giving me more of her attention. Whether she was trying to keep me distracted from reality or was simply keeping a close eye on me in order to make sure I didn't run off—which, I was certainly tempted to do several times—or maybe even both, I wasn't sure.

However, I was far from content or distracted.

Now on the rare occasion where Macey was hovering over Liz, trying to find a dress the perfect size and shape for Liz, I moved towards the jewelry section of the store.

Fumbling with the charms on the bracelets I feigned interest. My mind was far away from accessories as I tried, hard, searching for memories. If I just concentrated hard enough…

"So we meet again."

The voice startled me as I silently cursed myself at not being fully aware of my surroundings. Here and now was not the time to get lost inside my own mind.

I turned around knowing who was behind me and yet still not quite believing it until I saw him.

He seemed darker than when we met before, but then, the lights were dimmer in the store. There was a smirk on his lips that reminded me of Zach although his was nothing like Zach's. There was something much darker in his.

"I was afraid I wouldn't see you again before I left. I hear you're no longer staying at the complex," he said, his accent strong. I lifted an eyebrow as he added, "That is what Mrs. Huffington has told me from having seen you leave the building with your suitcase." He leaned across me as if suddenly interested in the jewelry as he asked, "Are you having marital problems?"

Backing up away from him and the heat and chill that came with him I narrowed my gaze. "I don't think that's really of your concern, Mr. Pastrana."

He chuckled, showing off a smile that wasn't as sinister as his former smirk. "My apologies for my boldness, Mrs. Goode. I guess my curiosity gets out of hand."

"Indeed," I replied before letting out a sigh and relaxing. "Zach is away for business and I didn't want to stay in the apartment by myself." Turning a charm between his thumb and forefinger he released it turning fully towards me. "Please feel free to pass that on to Mrs. Huffington."

"I will make certain she gets the message. But if I may, I would like to ask you for your opinion?"

"A gift?" I guessed as he nodded.

"My sister, Amritha, asked me if I could get a bracelet for her during my trip here. But I'm not entirely sure on which one to purchase." He gazed across the aisle his eyes widening slightly. "There are so many choices, all so different." He picked up a green beaded bracelet with one moon charm in the center.

"Well, then you certainly would be overwhelmed in a jewelry store," I commented as he looked back over at me. "Why don't you tell me about your sister? Such as, what is her favorite color?"

"Purple," he said automatically. "She loves purple and the stars. Anything really that deals with night and nature."

I nodded moving down across the counter over to a silver chain filled with stars and one moon. It glinted in the light as I held it up.

He took it, his fingers brushing against mine for longer than necessary. He inspected the piece of jewelry not looking pleased. "I'm not sure about this one. It seems too…bland…" He placed it back on the holder as I moved onto a deep purple bangle.

Seeing where my eyes went to he immediately said, "No, it's too dark of a purple."

Three minutes and twenty six seconds later he settled on a charm bracelet filled with nature charms.

"I think she will enjoy this one," he said satisfied with the choice. "Thank you Cameron for your help. Can I call you Cameron?"

Pondering it for a second I shrugged and said, "Sure, Sai."

"Well thank you again for your assistance. I hope our paths come across again in the future."

I nodded and started walking away as he stepped over into the checkout line. Hearing a whispered, "You could be of great use," as I continued my way across the store.

Pretending I never heard the words I reached Liz and Macey, who was currently holding a skirt up to Liz—one that I could never imagine Liz wearing in any near lifetime.

"Who was that?" Macey asked as she stood up and looked at me with a questioning gaze.

"A guy from my apartment building, Sai Pastrana. He's a new temporary resident."

"Temporary?" Macey stated more to herself. "What is it that he wanted?" She set the skirt back down on the rack as Liz looked relieve.

"Just help in picking out a bracelet for his sister. Are we finished here?"

Macey shrugged as she said, "Sure that is if Liz doesn't…"

"No," Liz said a little too enthusiastically causing Macey's eyebrow rise. "I'm good; I think we have done enough damage for the year."

"Why don't you just kill me already?" The voice sounded like my own except it was edgier and more confident.

* * *

Blinking I saw nothing but darkness. I turned around to where I had heard the voice and saw light. Slowly standing up I walked over towards the light until I reached a railing surrounded by light. Looking over the railing I could see myself sitting in a stainless chair—bonded to it really. My face was dirt covered, my clothes were ripped, and there was a dark, unwavering gleam in my eyes as I stared across at the man who was standing in front of me.

_Mr. Jacobson_

He smiled, his pearly whites showing just as I saw before but this time was different. This time I could no longer picture him as Santa Claus. There was nothing cheerful about him.

And while I could feel my own body cringe starring down at my other self—the more confident and messy version of myself—I saw no fear, no hesitation, only resentment.

He shook his head never losing his smile as he slowly paced around the chair. Reminding me of the animal kingdom and how a predator stalks his prey before the kill. However, my other self kept her vision straight to the wall in front until Mr. Jacobson came full circle.

"Cameron, dear, it's so touching how easily you are to embrace death. But we have much bigger plans for you." He lowered his head leaning towards me stating slowly, "You were so _intrigued _by our little _experiment_, so we've decided to let you have a firsthand experience of our creation." He stood up and while my gaze remained hard and cold my face seemed to have become paler.

A door opened and someone who seemed familiar walked in wearing a white lab coat pushing a cart with him. He rested the cart by the chair taking out a needle tapping it before sticking it into my arm.

And then just like that I woke up. I wondered almost immediately if that had been an actual _memory_. Maybe there was hope after all in regaining my memories.

_Maybe Zach would…_

The thought never became complete as I remembered that Zach wasn't here and wouldn't be for a month if he did come back at all.

Lying back down on the bed, the full weight of him not being here, of not being only a few feet away, hit me hard. I didn't even have a clue of where he was specifically only that he was not here in the US most likely, which left a lot of options open.

I closed my eyes and thought about Zach. Consumed by him before sleep took me over in order to gain some memory of him, but it didn't work or at least I don't remember it if it had worked.

**A/N: I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again so here is a sneak peak of the upcoming chapter: [Warning: Has not been checked for errors]**

I knew Macey was right that everything she was saying made perfect sense, still I couldn't shake a feeling of dread that was starting to take over. And I couldn't help but think this mission is not normal, this mission might have been designed to be Zach's death sentence. There was no way of knowing, which made it all the worse.


	19. Sneaking Out

Chapter 19: Sneaking Out

A month had past, signaling that Zach was supposed to come back from his mission today. Yet as morning turned to afternoon and afternoon to evening no one walked through Macey's front door. Nor has anyone called, which is actually good sign in a way. If Zach…if Zach's body was found deceased someone would have called.

This now meant that either something happened delaying Zach's return or that Zach was missing himself. Either way he could still be alive, still be breathing. There was still hope, but as the minutes went by that hope started to diminish.

"Cameron?" Macey asked staring at me.

I blinked a couple times having been stuck inside my own mind. I had been trying to decipher all the possibilities that could have happened to Zach and the probabilities of each. It only left me with a headache and heartache. With everything that was going on at the moment now was not the time to be late from a mission.

Macey leaned onto the kitchen counter her eyes level with mine. "As I was asking you before, do you want some more tea?" I shook my head 'no' and stared down at my fingers wrapped around an empty mug, not even remembering drinking it, but seeing the contents left from the drink. "Cameron, you know he can still come back. There are all types of reasons he's being delayed that aren't dangerous reasons. Especially depending on where he is it can be hard to get a plane ride back and there probably will be a lot of connecting flights, which can result in many delays. This is normal, Cammie." She stood up, tapped her fingers on the counter thinking for a moment of what else to say and it quickly came to her. "Besides it wasn't set in stone on what day he would be back just that this would be the earliest."

I knew Macey was right that everything she was saying made perfect sense, still I couldn't shake a feeling of dread that was starting to take over. And I couldn't help but think this mission is not normal, this mission might have been designed to be Zach's death sentence. There was no way of knowing, which made it all the worse.

"I'm going to bed," I mumbled under my breath leaving behind the mug. Macey didn't stop me, didn't say a word as I walked into the guest bedroom and collapsed onto the bed.

Right now all I needed to focus was what was my next move? I couldn't lie around doing nothing, helping no one, even though it was probably the safest thing for me to do. I didn't care I needed to get out, get moving, and find answers.

Plans started formulating in my mind and I knew if Macey knew what I was currently thinking about trying to accomplish, by myself nonetheless, she would be at my door with a nail gun. There would be no way she would let me out of this room, but of course Macey didn't know. Whatever Macey thought was going on through my mind she thought the best thing for her to do was to leave me alone, give me space, and for that I was thankful. It would make sneaking out of the house that much simpler.

* * *

Close to two in the morning I stood by the door listening to the light breathing a sign that Macey was asleep, deep asleep, the perfect time to get out unnoticed. I left the door and headed straight for the one window in the room that I already knew was unlocked and unprotected from the inside. It was meant to keep people out, not in.

I opened it little by little glad it was almost brand new meaning less worry about noise. Once it was opened high enough I slipped one foot through, then my body, and then my other foot before landing lightly on the ground right below the window. I closed the window back up, lifted the hood on my jacket, and started walking slower than usual around the house. Acting determined and confident was the plan as if this was normal for me, which it was in a way according to my muscles that felt loose and relaxed. Sneaking out, that had been a hobby of mine.

Walking down the street I watched around for anything that caught my eye, my attention. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, which I should be glad about but it just made me feel more cautious. It made me feel that this was all too easy even though I hadn't even gotten to the hard part, not even close.

When I was far enough away from Macey's house for her not to see me—even though she was probably still fast asleep—I took off at a jog and then went into a sprint. Luckily, the Roe building was closer to Macey's house than it was my apartment, making the trip did not take quite as long.

For once, I was glad for Google maps giving me a general direction of how to get to my destination and the time it would take for me to arrive there. Of course I beat the estimation by about twenty minutes.

Reaching the building I stared up at it and felt not quite as intimidated as before, which might be due to the adrenaline flowing through my body from the run here. Still, as excited as I was in finally having my own mission again I had to remain very cautious. Overconfidence was every spy's worst mistake and weakness.

Remembering when I first snuck into the building I went around the side with Zach's directions running through my mind. I could imagine him yelling at me and cursing at himself for now giving me perfect access (and warnings of the hot spots in security) to a place that was nothing but dangerous for me.

By the time I was in the building and down the hall toward Mr. Jacobson's office nerves started to get to me. I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to find, but anything at this point was better than nothing. Keeping a sharp eye on the security camera scanning the room I slipped behind a desk and waited. After it came by I went up to the office door and picked the lock in record time slipping through the door in time before the camera swept by again.

I glanced over the room once since I already knew what I was dealing with the first time I walked inside this office. The points where the lasers came out were easier to see in the daylight anyway. I took out a spray can I had thankfully found in my apartment and had enough sense to take with me. I hadn't planned for any break-ins then but there was also the possibility for the simple use of spray on your hair.

Making my way over to the desk with ease I crouched down and went by the desk drawers. Ready to slip out my other tools in order to open the desk drawer and see what lay inside I heard the first sound of footsteps so silent you could almost mistake it for the air conditioner. But I heard it clear and plain and knew I had to get out of the building immediately, which wouldn't be too much of a problem. At least that was what I thought.

I had made it out of the office and down the hallway no problem and was heading out of the building with ease, silence, and speed. Everything seemed fine as the adrenaline was still rushing through me until suddenly I stopped moving. Only it was not of my own free will, exactly.

Footsteps surrounded me now. I could hear them from all different directions. Every instinct in me, all my training, was telling me to run and run fast. But I didn't. I _couldn't._

I felt like I was paralyzed and what was even more was terrifying was I didn't know why I was paralyzed. All I knew was that I couldn't physically move my legs or arms or any part of my body except for my eyes.

But that was crazy, wasn't it? This was crazy!

Something was wrong. Something was terribly not right.

And it only got worse as someone had finally reached the room. They sounded from right behind me, but I couldn't turn around. I couldn't even see who it was. The person just continued to walk up to me until I could feel their heat behind me…their breath on the back of my neck.

Darkness covered my eyes as a blindfold took a hold of my vision. Then there was a whisper in my ear, "We'll take you to your new home." A sharp pain went in my arm causing my brain to go numb and then all noises ceased. I was out and on my own as I realized what a foolish mistake I had made.

**A/N: Okay, we're getting to a major part of the story where it has all been leading up to. So now I would love for you to review and see what exactly you think about where the story is headed and maybe I'll give you a sneak peek of a chapter in return…maybe…**


	20. Possessed by Science

**A/N: Alright so school is starting up for me tomorrow, ugh. My last hours of freedom and then it's back to hours of homework. So I'm telling you know it will probably be awhile for me to post, but hopefully this chapter (which is pretty lengthy and answers some questions) will help satisfy you guys until I can post again. Thank you all so much though for your support in the story and sorry for any mistakes in this chapter I'm kinda in a rush to post it! Enjoy…**

Chapter 20: Possessed by Science

It was awhile before I woke up, groggily, and on a plane, no less.

I wanted to jump up! I wanted to kick the leering guy—who happened to be Sai Pastrana of all people, who hadn't been as innocent as he once appeared—next to me in the face! I wanted to move!

But I didn't, I couldn't no matter how hard mentally I tried to move—even trying to lift a finger proved to be a useless effort. _What was going on?_

Sai seemed to be grinning wider as if he knew that now that I was wake I was trying to move and escape and having no such luck. His hand came towards me—I _tried_ to lean back—and brushed away the hair out of my face.

"We'll be landing soon," he told me.

His voice was just as rough and cold as it was when he had put the blindfold on me. I tried to speak, to shout out a threat, to say anything really, but nothing came out.

A voice on the intercom announced we would be arriving at our destination in twenty minutes and to take a seat and fasten your seatbelt. Sai followed the instructions as two more people a guy and a girl walked to their seats I saw in my peripheral vision and immediately memorized their faces. I didn't—couldn't—see anyone else on the plane, because I couldn't move my neck like everything else. I was paralyzed, in some way.

"You should buckle up," Sai said as if I could reply back. He stretched his arms over and hooked my seatbelt together, which had been undone. His hands lingered once I was buckled in going underneath my shirt and touching my skin with ice cold hands.

I panicked. I wanted to shout. Over two million threats in over forty different languages were coming to my mind, but my mouth remained closed and his hands still remained where they were, prodding at my stomach just a little.

He leaned over his seat, his hot, clammy breath in my ear. "You better get use to this Cameron, because from now on we are the ones who have control over you." He leaned back taking his hand out from underneath my shirt as I felt relief until he continued talking. "Oh and by the way coming to the ROE building in the middle of the night without company really made our job easier. Not that we wouldn't have captured you sooner or later. We would have done it sooner but it was too much fun messing with you before. Turning up the volume in your head, changing your body temperature, twisting limbs, but my personal favorite was getting you to hear ringing that didn't exist, which wasn't exactly easy but I manage it," he told me smugly. I looked at him in horror, or at least my eyes showed horror as the words dawned on me. "I didn't think it would be so hard controlling you. I thought it would be almost like a video game. Well, practice makes perfect, isn't that what they say?" He chuckled darkly not waiting for my response, knowing there would be none said out loud.

I don't have control over my own body, I realized with a gut wrenching feeling in my stomach. I'm no longer in control. My worst nightmare. I'm possessed. No, no, it's much worse than that because it's not one person or one entity who is able to control me, but dozens somehow. This can't be solved by exorcism it has to be solved by…how are they able to control me?

Of course I couldn't ask the question and had to sit there in silence as the plane descended in a place I didn't know anything about.

But soon enough I was standing and walking in a strange manner, almost robotically, because I wasn't the one telling my body to move this time. If I was the last place I would be going was heading to the front door of the plane starring at faces of people I didn't recognize and didn't trust.

* * *

It was in the car—where I sat in the passenger seat, two people sat behind me, and Sai was driving—that Sai started to hand out explanations.

"You see, Cameron, we planted a chip in your head, but not the kind of chip your familiar with. This chip is much more powerful and useful than a simple tracker," he said slowly his smile never leaving his eyes. He was really enjoying himself here.

Boy, did I want to simply lift my arm and smack him so hard he lost grip of the car, which okay may not be the greatest move. We were driving on a narrow, rocky road—which was more like a trail than a road—and if lost control of the car we would end up most likely running into the ditch on the side. This was what I saw when I stared out the window. Plus, there were also the two people behind me to worry about. They looked like the types of people who, if they saw my fist about to come into contact with Sai's face, would grab it and break it in half.

Only my arm wasn't going to go anywhere near Sai's face at the moment. It was going to stay lying like a stone in my lap until someone decided to move it with a remote control. That was what I concluded was controlling me know as I was stepping into the car I saw the goon sitting right behind me moving a controller and hitting buttons on a small but very thick box shape machine. Currently it was sitting in his lap.

There was a sharp to the left as my body hit the side of the car, moving not to my accord or to those around me. They couldn't defy the law of physics with this gadget, which right now wasn't much help but maybe it would be soon enough.

Sai continued to talk. "This chip is a very special invention. It allows us complete control of your nervous system. We can control your every movement, every sound you hear, every sensation you feel, the possibilities are absolutely endless." He sounded a little maniac now while fear started to consume. _The possibilities are absolutely endless…_ "Oh, and there is so much more to it than that, but why spoil the surprise so early." He looked over with me the slightest smile as the car fell into complete silence.

There was something in Sai's eyes that startled me. Some joke, some sick joke he was in on and I was most likely going to find out soon. And I already knew I wasn't going to like it.

* * *

Four hours, eleven minutes, and thirty five seconds later we reached a series of buildings that looked to be out in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't much around us but the dirt and very few trees standing beside one of the door entrances. While throughout the drive the sky had become darker signaling a storm was moving in, how proper.

The entrance with the trees was to the biggest building and was the one we were walking towards. Well, they were walking towards it, and I was being pulled there as I tried to fight the hold over my body. It didn't work, I knew it wouldn't, but I couldn't stop my struggle in fighting this. For one maybe the remote could possibly sort circuit or the chip inside my head suddenly stopped working. Although those were unlikely possibilities as these people seemed very trained and knew what they were doing. No, I really had to keep up the struggle more for my emotional and emotional state. If I didn't try to fight a losing battle it was like I was giving up rolling over and I couldn't do that, not yet.

We stopped right in front of the doors as Sai turned to face me and said, "Now I'm sure you have many things you want to tell me. Not all very polite." An eyebrow lifted, but his expression remained the same. "Your husband wasn't much on the language. I'm sure you're no different." He looked over at the guard next to me, who held the remote, and gave a quick nod.

There was a switch pulled to the side I saw as it felt like something in my jaw was released.

Thunder cracked loudly behind me as I stared straight into Sai's dark eyes. Keeping my voice as even and low as possible I asked, "Where's Zach?"

Sai looked at me, a grin plastered on his face, as he replied, "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

We walked down a long tunnel before coming to a stainless steel door no other guards in sight. Flipping over a block of fake stone Sai quickly typed away on an also stainless keyboard and then stepped back. A beam shined from a crack in the stone over the stainless door scanning Sai, myself, and the two guards on my side. He stepped forward as stones beside the keyboard shifted, one piece disappearing upward the other going downward revealing a hidden hand scanner. Sai placed his left hand inside and then pulled it out a minute later where I noticed a pin going back down into the scanner and a small puncture wound on Sai's middle finger. Typing a few more words on the keyboard there was a sudden groan and the door started to open, sliding straight into the wall.

Looking at me, Sai held an arm forward and said, "Lady's first." Before I even had a chance to reply—if I could have—my legs were already moving forward almost robot like.

As if hearing my thoughts Sai said, "It will take awhile getting used to the controls where your movements will actually start to look natural. But…" I could hear Sai take a step up behind me, sense his body behind me, and feel the chill of his breath against my neck. All I wanted to do was shiver, fight, and run, but I couldn't make my body move. "Of course we'll have plenty of time for…practice."

He stepped in front of me, pulled a set of keys from his pocket, and slipped one pair inside the key hold of one of the many doors covering the new hallway. He walked in and with no choice I followed.

The first step inside the room I felt a tremendously cold breeze that would have made my teeth chatter if they were given permission—when we had stepped into the building my jaw had locked once again, although it seemed more painful now. It was a relatively small room with four stoned walls that we stood inside. There was only one other door right next to a large clear glass window—one you might see in an interrogation room.

Now standing side by side with Sai and starring straight at the glass I knew that was exactly what this room was for, interrogation.

I could feel the muscles in my jaw loosen once more as if encouraging me to speak, which was exactly what I did. In an instant the soft, "Zach," slipped from my lips.

There Zach was head down showing that he was unconsciousness at the moment. He was strapped down in a chair with three belts going across his legs, his stomach, and his chest which also captured his arms by his side. Blood was trickling down the side of his head, a long stream coming from an open, new cut. There were several bruises over his body and some that were just starting to show.

"We were thinking of putting a chip inside him as well as you. Because I'm sure you've heard the saying 'everyone has their price'." The muscles in my neck loosened and I was able to turn my head freely to look at Sai and his fake smile and gleaming eyes. "Well, people also have their own time. Time they can last withstanding pain before they are shouting all their secrets to the rooftop. And what's great about this chip is that the pain is all mental never physical so the torture can go on and on and on, never ending, the person never dying, which has always been an issue but not anymore. Except in your soon to be late husband's case there is no need for that kind of information. There are other people we can get it from so instead will stick with the old fashioned torture and see how long he lasts." Looking ahead at the glass his eyes sparkled before he turned back to me. "We actually have a little wager going on how long he lives. So far the highest is two weeks and three days, but personally I doubt he will make it to the week. He doesn't seem that strong willing."

Sai placed a hand upon my cheek and instead of flipping him onto his back hard enough to break his spine I simply turned my head so that his hand was met with the cold air.

This didn't discourage him but only caused him to laugh until footsteps sounded coming from the door we had just entered.

There stood a man in a white lab coat the same man I had dreamed about from what was most likely a memory resurfacing. The same man who I had seen stick a needle in my arm who had seem familiar to me, but I couldn't name. Either because the dream was too hazy or he had simply changed that much. **[A/N: At the end of Chapter 18: Memories]**

Because who it was that stood there in the pristine white coat was Jonas.

Jonas who had so quiet the last time I remembered him when he was at the Gallagher Girl Academy during the school exchange. Now he was starring right at me with a look that was completely blank. As if he didn't recognize me. As if he didn't know me.

And I wondered if I was more repulsed by Jonas's vacant stare or Sai's cruel stare. It was at least at tie for the moment.


	21. New Territory

Chapter 21: New Territory

It was silent and cold and the oxygen seemed to be depleting. Only it had to be just me who felt that way for the reason, possibly, of staring straight at the person in front of me. Someone I thought I could trust as if it was a given but apparently not since that person just stood there with an emotionless expression waiting…waiting for orders, I realized.

"Ah, Jonas, just in time," Sai said, walking behind me and towards Jonas. Of course, he had to walk directly behind me brushing up against my backside. "I think we've shown Cameron enough for the day." Sai glanced over at the guard holding the remote.

My mouth immediately clamped down, the tension was put back in the muscles of my neck, and my whole body turned towards Jonas and the door.

The guard handed the remote to Sai who in turn gave it to Jonas flashing him a look so quick I couldn't describe it. But I could see the tension in Jonas as he stood more erect and held onto the remote with a tighter grip then necessary. Sai smiled, pleased, as he continued, "Take her up to the second room on the left of the fourth floor and leave her there. She'll be taken care of." He turned back around staring straight at me but still addressing Jonas, mostly. "Then come back down. There is some work we need you to do once we're done."

Before Sai finished the statement he was already heading towards a corner of the room I hadn't paid much attention to—not that I could since I hadn't been in a good enough position to see the corner until now. There were black bags, several, stacked in the corner and while I had no idea what was in them I could easily imagine that it was anything far from good. But while Sai was starting to open the bags I never had the chance to see what was inside them, thankfully. Jonas was already walking and ordering me to walk, as well, right behind him with the remote. This time was different though as I noticed my motions were a lot more fluid not as robotic, which made me start to speculate about Jonas.

What had he been up to all these years? All these years I couldn't remember. How did he become connected to this…situation (for lack of a better word)? How did his path differ so much from the last time I had known him? Or had I really known Jonas at all…had it all been a cover?

If had been a cover since the beginning it was a good cover. Because if I had to guess the person I was least afraid of who was a spy them self and wasn't one of my own sisters Jonas would have been the first name to come to my mind. He was the guy who was brilliant and shy and just not someone you worried about. It wasn't as if he could have flung you across the room—unlike Grant or Zach—, which if I had control of my own muscles I would have at the least strangled him since flinging him would have made too much racket, but I still could have done it.

While Jonas had grown taller and bulked just slightly he was still far from looking like any kind of physical threat.

But this…this was science. This was Jonas's specialty.

Did anyone else know about this Jonas? What exactly he had been up to all these weeks, months, or years?

No, they couldn't. I would have already known.

_Grant's in but Jonas won't be coming. He refuses to come._

Zach's voice came back so vivid it pained me. He never knew his friend would end up betraying him like this, working for the people who were intent on killing him. None of us knew.

But then…maybe…what if I'm jumping to conclusions? Maybe something else was happening under the surface and Jonas couldn't help being a part of this. What…

What if I'm over thinking the situation? I was at an extreme disadvantage of not knowing what happened over the years, but I knew what was happening now from what I could see.

I wasn't in control of my body because of a chip placed in my head and was now at the mercy of people I didn't know and didn't trust. Fact. There was no doubting that. Then there was Jonas who was obviously a part of this in a way. Although I wanted to trust Jonas as I still remembered the Jonas I knew before, the shy kid version and not this adult version I didn't know. Until I was given evidence dismissing my presumptions I would have to stick with not trusting Jonas thinking that Jonas was part of this and was no longer an ally who could be trusted.

It had been a long, silent walk when we finally landed on the fourth floor and stood in front of a plain oak door with a metallic key slider attached to the handle like something you would see for a hotel room. Jonas paused and looked at me over his shoulder. This was the first time he actually looked at me since we started walking and this time the look wasn't blank. I wasn't sure what to call it, but there was definitely recognition in his eyes. Only just as quickly as the look of recognition came the look returned to blank again and his gaze searched across the hall as if searching for someone, anyone.

Then he slipped out a card key from his pocket slid it into the key slider and the door opened. He started walking inside and I followed, not that I had a choice. The door shut behind us automatically with a sharp click.

The room we stood in was very empty. The walls were a bland light yellow and there were no windows in sight. The only light was coming from above on a ceiling fan that looked close to falling. The only pieces of furniture were a bed, a desk, and a chair behind the desk. The desk and chair didn't look in to great of a shape but the bed was better, much better. Other than that there was a small closet the panel was open to reveal it was empty with no clothes hanging inside and there was another door that I realized connected to a bathroom.

The bathroom…I hadn't even thought of how that was going to work that and changing clothes. My mind had been too preoccupied with so many other problems I didn't think of these new ones that presented themselves to me.

My feet started to shuffle toward the bed and soon I was lying down on it, lying on my back, facing the ceiling.

I waited to hear Jonas's footsteps leaving the room or hear him set the remote control down. I wanted him to leave so I would be alone. Not that it would do any good in helping me flee here as I was paralyzed at the moment and couldn't escape if he did leave. But I wanted the peace, the sense of no one around while I tried to think of a plan of how exactly I was going to get out of here. There had to be way. All I needed was one way.

Only Jonas never left, never set the remote down either. The only reason I knew for sure he was still in the room and hadn't quietly snuck off was the sound of his shallow breathing. It was the only noise around and I wondered while he was still standing here. Sai had told him to leave me here and to go back down because he needed to…work.

The door opened and for a second I thought it was Jonas leaving, but the door quickly closed behind the person and I heard two sets of feet.

"This," a voice said, definitely feminine and light and foreign, "is her." Soft footsteps came closer to my bed as heavier ones shifted father away towards the corners of the room.

"Yes," Jonas said sounding strained. His voice was deeper and rougher than what I remembered, but then he was a lot older than before. He also sounded tired and worried.

Something soft hit the bed close to my feet, but I couldn't tell what it was without seeing it.

"I've already taken care of the recordings Jonas. They can see us, but they can't hear us. It's a glitch in the program that's been around several weeks. No one's bothered to take care of it, because no one feels the need to." The owner of the light voice came into full view as she leaned over me, staring down.

She was young, very young I realized probably a teenager and looked a lot like Sai. While Sai had certainly lied a lot prior, him saying he had a sister might not have been a lie especially when her bracelet flashed into view. A bracelet filled with nature charms and the last time I had seen it was in Sai Pastrana's hands.

Her lips deepened to a frown as she stared down at me, not liking what she was seeing before her. She leaned away and looked—I presume—in Jonas's direction. "There are many on the line Jon. They're not worried about you trying anything _drastic_."

"Yeah," Jonas said with a sigh. "I guess not. My hands have been tied for years and it doesn't seem like they're going to become loose anytime soon." His footsteps started to come near and I saw him in partial view as he handed the girl the controller. Handing over my life, my control over my own body, so easily.

She took it carefully as he stared down at it and then at me for a few long seconds before staring at the door. "I guess it's my fault for getting in this mess though. If I had only realized…oh, well, it's too late now."

"Jonas?" the girl said as Jonas started heading for the door. Her voice sounded like a plea to stay, but he didn't. He left the room as quickly as he could.

The girl shook her head, stared at the contraption, and looked back over at me. Then she went over by me feet and picked whatever she had dropped on the bed. As it turned out it was clothing, not entirely appealing clothing either. It was an ugly beige color and bagging and from the look of it seemed to be several sizes too big for me.

"These are a servant's pair," she said feeling the need to explain where the clothes had come from as if I really cared. She walked into the bathroom from what I could see and hear of her footsteps. She went in with an armful of clothes and came out with her hands free, well, except for the controller. She stared at the machine controlling my life for the moment while biting her lower lip. "I don't know how this works entirely. I'm not good with these devices, but I know the basics."

Cautiously she pulled a lever up while watching me with worried eyes. Slowly I began to rise out of bed, painfully though, as my hands weren't propping myself up. **(A/N: Rereading this I decided to try it out just to make sure I could do it and that it wasn't comfortable.) **But it wasn't something she knew, I hoped, as she looked relieved in her progress.

After several minutes of trials and fails I was finally at the bathroom door. My steps had not been fluid nor had they been robotic, but were in an entirely different category. If anyone watched this exchange (which by the hidden cameras I had seen I knew people had) I'm sure the first thing that would have come to their mind was drunk. There had been a couple times I had come close to falling sideways, face forward, even once backward, but somehow I made it uninjured to the bathroom.

_Well it could be worse, _I thought as I stared or tried to stare at my surroundings and saw the clothes sitting on top of the counter. _It could be Sai or a guard here, a male guard._

Indeed I much rather have taken a drunken walk and even take a fall several times with this girl in control then to have had an easier time walking with someone of the male persuasion specifically Sai.

Inside the bathroom I noticed that it was also plain and incredibly small, almost the size of the closet.

"Okay," the girl said speaking again. "There are cameras in the corner on the right side of the door and the on the faucet of the sink. Those are the only two installations I'm aware of though, but I'm pretty sure there are no other cameras." She put her hand on the doorknob while I wondered why she was telling me this, any of this. "My suggestion is to change in the shower both times, undressing and redressing. Your clothes will probably get wet, but…" She shrugged, I saw, through the mirror. "It's your choice. Now, give me one second." My mouth was released again. "Can you speak?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied slowly.

"Good," she said closely the door with her on the other side and leaving me alone in the bathroom. "Tell me when you can feel—"

I didn't let her finish the sentence. I couldn't, when I had the chance to speak again. "Why are you doing this?" I asked.

There was silence. Then in a small voice she replied, "Because I know it will only get worse for you." That was all she said and it was enough to make my blood run cold, because while I already knew this it hadn't been spoken out loud and by someone else. I felt my whole body loosen and I could finally, finally, move no longer under anyone's control. "Did it work? Can you move?" I heard her ask through the door.

I looked around my surroundings walking and scoping it out already checking for bugs and seeing two, right where the girl had said they were.

"Cameron?" she asked again. There was a pause. In a soft voice she added, "You know while they may not care about hearing what you have to say they are watching. They care about what you do, not what you say. And, well, since you're in the bathroom I'm sure they're watching you more closely. It's male dominated here." I heard her steps walking away and the sound of the bed groaning getting used to a new weight even if it was light.

I knew what the underlying message was behind her words. _Don't try to escape._

There were no windows in here. So the only way I could escape was going back out the bathroom door and then what. They probably were watching me closely. I saw the bugs in here and the bedroom and they would know immediately know if I was trying to escape. This would mean I would either have to make a really fast dash—the windows in the hall were far away from this room and we were up four floors with no good escape route I could see—or I would have to hold the girl in a chokehold and threaten her life in order to get out.

I really didn't want to do the last part, she seemed like a sweet girl, and the first part I think I would have to gone insane to even attempt it. Or at least gone suicidal.

Even if I did take the girl hostage who's to say I would even get to her in time. I mean while she doesn't seem to know how to work the remote well I didn't doubt that she would be able to paralyze me or something of the sort before I could reach to her. And then if I did somehow get to her time what would I do about all the guards? What if there was another remote? A backup, in case something like what I was thinking of happened. It would be a smart move that I'm sure they had already thought of. Or, well, they could go the simple route and shoot me point blank. It doesn't seem like they're that inclined in keeping lives here.

But playing with the idea that one of my insane plans actually worked and I did escape. What would happen to the people whose lives are on the line from what the girl said if that was true? Although she could be lying. She could be manipulating me right now trying to gain my trust by letting me free—over control of my body, anyway—for the moment. Only, I wasn't getting that kind of a vibe from her.

Even if she is lying though there was one person who I knew was in danger who I saw through my own eyes. Someone who needed to get out of here, maybe more than I did.

Only I was stuck. Until I had enough information to get a stable plan of escape I was trapped. So instead of running out of the bathroom like a lunatic or suicidal person I stripped down in the shower—like the girl suggested—after of course I had checked the shower stall over twice and was satisfied with my results.

The water came down ice cold and wouldn't get any warmer, I quickly discovered, than slightly above freezing. So it was good at least that I was in a place that was incredibly hot so that the water actually felt good for the first few minutes.

I listened for noise while I dressed in my semi-wet clothes I had left hanging on top of the curtain. But all I heard was the girl either getting up and pacing or sitting back down on the bed. She wasn't satisfied in anyone position.

I stepped of the tub with a grip tight on my pants to try and keep them from falling. They were really more than a couple sizes too big. I easily stepping on my pants with my feet and the sleeves of my shirt stretched far over my hands. I was more than tempted to change back into my prior clothes no matter how dirty they were or how worse they smelled. It was better than walking in this getup with pants that would stay up and it wasn't me that would have to keep them up once I stepped out.

Because I knew the moment I walked out of the door the girl standing outside waiting would place me back under control. She was nice enough to allow me privacy, but I doubted her hospitability would go past the bathroom. My only hope was she was the only one who would be _taking care of me._

So I stood there weighing my options and extending my last moments of freedom.

"Cameron?" I heard her ask clearly knowing I was done. The water was no longer running and all that was coming out of the bathroom was silence

"What's your name?" I asked her. Still not wanting to step out the door and letting someone else control me again and I also didn't want to call her that girl.

I waited for her to say Amritha, but she never did. Instead of an answer the door to the room and not the bathroom opened scaring the girl as I heard her let out a small yelp.

**A/N: I am really pleased how this chapter turned out and the fact that it the longest chapter yet. I thought it was going to be hard to write, but it turned out to be easy. Okay, so you guys know the drill. Review I really enjoying reading what you think it inspires me to write.**


	22. A Prisoner's Meal

Chapter 22: A Prisoner's Meal

I listened closely as I heard a gruff voice say, "Sai wants you."

The girl let out a sigh as she replied, "And he couldn't come get me himself." The bed let out a loud moan stating that she was now standing but there were no sound of footsteps heading towards the door—there were no footsteps at all. "Give me a minute," she said to what I assume was another guard.

"He wants you now Amritha," the guard replied not sounding happy. _Amritha, just as I suspected._

"Cruse, I told you, give me a minute," Amritha stated forcefully but there was no hiding the tremor in her voice.

The door opened again as Cruse replied, "One minute. Otherwise I'll drag you down the stairs and Shivang out here can watch your _new _little _friend._" There was a very threatening take to his tone as he left and I didn't want to ask about it. But want and need are two different objectives.

"Okay Cameron, hold on one second," Amritha was saying as I could hear her picking up the device. I might not have a chance to ask after this moment. I might not see Amritha again. So I had to ask even though I had a feeling I already knew the answer, and I didn't like it.

"What did he mean new friend, Amritha?" I asked her. There was silence. So I added, "I'm not the only whose been put into this position, am I?" Silence still followed as I waited and hoped for her to tell me I was wrong.

I felt the slightest tension running through my body and I knew I wasn't in control anymore. There went my chance of receiving an answer, although the silence was enough of an answer to me.

My hands were still curled into fists by my side, and testing my guess of no longer having control, I tried to move my fingers. They never budged.

The door opened and there Amritha stood with a distant look on her face. She looked at my hands that were the only reason my pants were staying up. Seeing this she pulled out a rope from her pocket, set the controller on the counter, and wrapped the rope around my waist tightly and secured it with a complex knot. The rope was now my new belt. Macey would have been mortified. If only Macey were here to see though.

I stared at the controller, as much as I could in my paralyzed state. It was only a foot or two away from my hands. What was now literally controlling my life was so close to my hands that it was almost a physical pain in seeing and knowing this fact. Everything could go back to normal—as normal as it ever was—if I could just grab it for one second. Switch the button that was making me paralyzed, but that wasn't going to happen. It wasn't going to be that easy.

Amritha guided me back to the bed with the controller and I lied down back in the position I was in before. Only now I was wearing different, uncomfortable clothes, my hair was soaking wet, and I was still trying to process everything that was happening. Remember any new bit of information and figure out what the established relationships here were. Anything that could help my escape.

I heard and saw, vaguely, Amritha walking back to the door and then she just stood there facing the door. I suspected that she didn't want to leave to go and talk with or do whatever it was Sai wanted of her. But I was wrong, partially.

There was a soft, "No," that sounded and I could barely hear it. I also didn't understand what it meant until I remembered my question. My stomach turned in knots as I wondered and yet knew at the same what happened to the others. Because I was pretty certain they weren't here from what Cruse had said and the way Amritha had taken so long to answer the question and to answer it so softly, so weak.

But now she was gone and Cruse was in her place and luckily he stayed right there standing in the room in front of the door. I fell asleep not long after since Cruse decided to close my eyelids for me and never opened them again.

Because while I was far from tired when you're just lying there doing nothing, hearing only silence, and your eyelids are closed it doesn't matter if you're tired or not, you eventually fall asleep.

* * *

When I woke I felt groggy and it was dark, pitch dark, but then I realized that because my eyes were still closed and I couldn't open them.

Underneath my hands I felt thin sheets and a mattress, so I was still in bed. I could still feel the rough, baggy, somewhat uncomfortable material around me that was now my clothing.

Voices sounded around me, which was what most likely woke me up. They weren't in the room though but outside.

Suddenly I was shifting sides, sitting on the end of the bed, my feet touching cold wood, and then I was walking out of the room while it was still pitch black. My eyes had remained shut and I was walking blind, sort of.

While I couldn't see anything that could tell me if it was night or day I knew, internally, that it was late in the day. I wondered what they possibly wanted with me now.

Several minutes later my arm was extended as I came to a halt. There was lush carpet underneath my bare feet instead of cold wood. My fingers brushed against a hard surface before gripping it tightly and pulling it back. A scratching sounded and I figured out quickly that I was pulling back a chair.

My eyes finally opened when I was sitting down.

The first person I saw was Sai sitting in front of me, a look of pure amusement on his face as he was leaning back in his own chair with arms crossed over his chest. Suddenly two guards were at my sides snapping my wrists and legs into metal cuffs against the chairs and securing them tightly. Tightly as possible I might add as I could feel the metal cutting into my skin.

Then—just as I had a feeling they would when they started hooking me in so tightly—I was released from the control of the remote. The first thing I did was look down at my entrapment and saw a trickle of blood slowly sliding from under the metal. They wanted to make sure I couldn't escape once I was free and I admit they did an excellent job, unfortunately, not that I would have any idea on where to go if I tried to escape.

"I'm sure you're starving Cameron," Sai said as I looked up at him. He was smiling way too wide and I tried my hardest not to grimace. "You haven't eaten in two days."

My stomach growled on cue while I thought _two days_. It had already been two days.

Was Zach alright? Was he…no, I couldn't go there, not now.

I tried to put on a smile that didn't seem fake to him. Harshness and anger wasn't going to get me anywhere I already had that figured out. I needed them to think I was on their side or that I had given up my fight of fleeing. I needed more information, which if I was polite they might be more compliant to share with me. And also I needed times like these where I was no longer under control of the remote in order to make any kind of escape for freedom. Of course, I also needed not to be in shackles or shackles that weren't quite so tight.

"Yes, Mr. Pastrana, I am," I said in my politest tone and earned a shock expression from Sai. My smile grew a tad bigger and felt not quite as fake. "Has it really been two days, already?"

Sai's eyes narrowed on me as if he was trying to figure out exactly what my game plan was. "Yes, it has." He snapped his finger and a guard left while I noticed that several more—four—remained standing around the table. "But Ms. Morgan I'm afraid flattery will get you nowhere. However I do enjoy this attitude change. Maybe…"

A door sounded from behind me but I didn't turn to look.

Sai glanced over my head and a look of contempt came over his face. "I hope you have what I requested Jonas. It wasn't a hard task for someone as supposedly bright as you."

Jonas had now come into my line of sight standing by the table's edge his eyes on Sai. He was standing tall and straight and tried to look perfectly calm with the situation but inside I could see he was a mess.

"Sir, Mr. Pastrana, I'm afraid I have no new progress for your request yet. But the chip is still already impressive as it is even…"

"I don't care about what the chip can do now or how impressive it is," Sai spat angrily at Jonas who seemed to take a small step back. "I want progress!" He pounded his fist on the table and in that moment looked like a spoiled child not getting his way for once. "I want to be able to control what comes out of her mouth," he said pointing directly at me.

_What comes out of my mouth? As in speaking?_

Jonas nodded stealing one glance at me before looking back at Sai. His fear was officially starting to show. "I know, sir, and I understand. It's just that the human vocals are difficult to control unlike the nervous system. We can control the mouth so that the words are formed the only problem is having actual words, actual noise come out…"

Sai raised his hand and immediately Jonas closed his mouth. "I have a question for you Jonas. Was this chip not your creation, your invention, your idea?"

This time I turned my head and really looked at Jonas, waiting for his answer. Was controlling people really Jonas's idea? It was bad enough that he was part of this, but to be the mastermind, the original leader in this might be more than I could comprehend. How could this be the same Jonas I knew?

"Yes," Jonas answered sounding almost ashamed.

"Then it is up to you to fix the problem and allow the chip to control vocals. Or do you disagree?"

Jonas said nothing.

"Very well, I expect a prototype by the end of next month. I'm feeling extra generous though so we will merely test the new prototype out on one of the others," Sai said as Jonas nodded. _Others, they were still alive? _"If it doesn't work then you can fix it, but Jonas." Sai paused and stared at Jonas for a long time. "If I do not have a working chip fully functional by the end of June of next year you will be officially terminated. You are dismissed."

Jonas nodded his head again and escaped through the doors within a minute. Sai shook his head and gave me a sly grin.

"It's hard to find good geniuses these days."

In response the door in front of me opened and in walked not guards but other people who, my only guess, were waiters as they carried plates of food. My stomach went nuts and I could feel my mouth start to water as the food was placed in front of us.

To my disdain Sai looked very pleased with my look of want.

The food set before us looked amazing. Incredible delicacies, not that I could tell what they were and I wasn't sure I wanted to know. All I cared about was the overpowering aroma as the food just sat there waiting to be taken.

Sai cut into the nearest dish, the one lying in between the two of us. It was some type of meat and Sai held out his fork with a small slice of the meat on it.

With all the strength and will power I had left, I leaned back, but Sai didn't look discouraged.

"Come on Cameron. What's the use if you starve to death? Granted we won't stop you, but is that really how you want to go?" He smiled at me holding the fork further towards me. "Have you really given up?"

I leaned forward and cautiously took the fork into my mouth. I was really putting my life on the line here. Sai had the control and he could have pushed the fork far into my mouth and there wasn't much I could do in stopping that action.

Clenching the fork as tight as possible between my teeth—hoping beyond any reasonable hope they were strong enough to stop any push forward—I watched Sai with measured eyes. He only smiled as I pulled away from the fork having it scraping loudly against my teeth. Now it was out of my mouth and in its place was a piece of unknown meat.

Soon I swallowed the piece while my stomach growled for more. I sat there completely taken by how incredibly good the food tasted, which may have to do with the fact that I hadn't eaten in such a long time.

"There," Sai said cutting into another piece. "Was that so hard?" He held out the second piece and this time I took it with a lot less caution and a lot more desperation.

He grinned enjoying watching me and this was how my dinner went. Him serving me food, slice by slice.

I, of course, tried to make small talk, tried to find out any more information, but Sai wouldn't have any of it. He would simply hold out more meat that I couldn't resist.

Once I was full as possible with most of the plates completely cleared I felt the power shifting away from me and back under one of the guards. I was unstrapped from my seat, brought up the stairs, and back to my current sleeping area where I was put to lie down with eyes open this time, at least in the beginning hours.

**A/N: Ah, will we ever be able to trust Jonas again? Okay so another not incredibly exciting chapter. However there will be torture scenes coming up and that's all I'm willing to say. But like Sai I'm feeling generous so here is a sneak peek of an upcoming chapter:**

_I wasn't ready yet. I wasn't ready to see Zach's body, cold and lifeless. It was too much; it was all just too much._

_When we entered the room I tried hard not to look at the glass, only I couldn't control my head nor could I control my mouth as Sai had already snapped it closed. My eyes fell on the glass the moment we stepped in and I was sure my heart stopped._


	23. New Kind of Torture

**A/N: I bring you spoils with an **_**incredibly early **_**chapter, bring me you gratitude through a review after you have read the chapter. Alright, so I will tell you right now that I really like this scene. It is actually one of my top favorite chapters for this story. So, I hope that you readers will really enjoy it as well.**

Chapter 23: New Kind of Torture

Months had gone by and I wasn't sure whether or not Zach was still alive. I was reasoning that he was otherwise Sai would have mentioned it to me. Tease me about it, mock me with it. How could he not? He knew it would bring me misery, which was what he seemed to be enjoying.

But, then again, why hadn't Zach been mentioned at all over the past weeks?

I haven't heard anything about him since the first and last time I saw him tied in the chair. Why wouldn't Sai want to tell me all the horrible things they were doing to him and how he was responding to them. Unless…did he…do I dare even think that maybe just maybe Zach escaped? If he did then I could see why neither Sai nor the others would talk to me about it. They would never let me know that they couldn't hold down a prisoner and a severely injured one at that. They would never let me have the hope for him…for me…

Wait, if Zach had escaped would he even know I was here? Would he have known that I was in the same exact building as him? Probably not, unless Sai said something, which I highly doubted. No, Zach would most likely not even know I was captured not until he went home and found out from Macey I was gone. And then once he found out he would still have no idea where I was. He would never have guessed that he had been so close to where I was. No one would.

As much as I could hope for this to be true it didn't matter for there was only person who could get me out of this mess and that was myself. I, who couldn't even move an arm without permission, who was completely helpless and vulnerable at the moment. I wouldn't be able to find a way out of this, at least not anytime soon. Time I didn't think I had.

Still, maybe, just maybe Zach had gotten away. He was good enough to have figured something out no matter how bloodied up he had looked before. And at least one of us escaped from this hell hole.

But was it too much to hope for?

The door opened swiftly and soon I saw Sai's cruel, cold face glaring over me. If I only I could…

"I hear today is your birthday Cameron," he said before I could finish my thought—a thought where he ended in a lot of pain.

He was right though, I realized. It wasn't as if I didn't know what day it was because I knew, I had been keeping track of the days. I just didn't realize until now that the date had been my birthday because my mind had been filled with so many other thoughts. Thoughts about whether or not Zach was alive, dead, or free and whether or not anyone had come any closer into locating our location.

The remote came into my line of sight as Sai held it out in his hands dangling it over me. He was mocking me yet again as he always did.

My mouth was released. I moved it slightly exercising it out since it had been clamped down for so long that it felt so strained.

"Well, Cameron, what do you want for your birthday? Choose wisely," he said staring down at me with gleaming eyes. Those eyes were just asking me to spill whatever I was thinking. "Make a wish, Cameron." As if he would ever grant my wish.

Still he already knew what my answer was and so I said it, "Home." It stunned me for a second how rough my voice sounded from not having used it in weeks.

Sai grinned. "And what would be your definition of home, Cameron?" he asked, as if he cared.

This little game was infuriating me whatever the point was I didn't care I was tired of it. I was tired of him. "Home as in my apartment, my life. People I'm surrounded by who I actually _care about_ and who _care about me_. That kind of home which I'm sure you know _nothing_ about."

While in truth I couldn't move any other part of my body this then left my mouth—the only part of me able to move at the moment—as a weapon. So I took the opportunity to wield my words and turn them into a white-hot knife hoping each word stung as much as the last. My charade of politeness had ended long ago as it had gotten me nowhere fast.

To my satisfaction he frowned and didn't seem to know what to say. He stepped away from me and at first I thought he was going to leave.

But then I was suddenly pushing myself into a sitting position very rapidly. I had sat straight up so quickly that the room spun and a headache began from the sudden change.

"You know Cameron you really should be nicer to me," Sai said coming to stand in front of me as I stared at him through the hair that was now hanging in my face. He leaned down brushing it behind my ears. "I can make life really _difficult_ for you." His smile and gleam came back. "But since it is your birthday and I'm feeling generous I have a little surprise for you."

At first I wasn't sure what to expect but as we continued on downward, the halls and rooms started to look too familiar for my liking.

We were going back to the place where I last saw Zach, which had to mean Zach hadn't escaped at all. I had been hoping a hopeless thought and now I started to fear that Sai's little present for me would be Zach's dead body. He wasn't supposed to have lasted this long from what the others had said.

So once we reached the last door entering the interrogation room, the room where I saw Zach bloodied and bound sitting in a chair through the glass window, my heart started hammering hard in my chest.

I wasn't ready yet. I wasn't ready to see Zach's body, cold and lifeless. It was too much; it was all just too much.

When we entered the room I tried not to look at the glass, only I couldn't control my head nor could I control my mouth as Sai had already snapped it close. My eyes fell on the glass the moment we stepped in and I was sure my heart stopped.

Sai closed the door as I stared at Zach. Stared at the bloody mess of the boy I once knew. He looked worse than the first time I had seen him here, which shouldn't be much of a surprise since they were still torturing him. But like before his head was down and I couldn't tell whether he was alive or dead. I tried hard to look and see if his chest was moving slightly, to see if he was breathing.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And…

If my mouth had been opened I would have let a sigh of relief. His chest moved ever so lightly signaling he was still breathing, still alive, still hanging in there. But not by much.

Sai came up behind me watching him and then watching me. "Do you like your surprise, because sweetheart it isn't over yet."

Oh, god, he wasn't…he wouldn't…is Zach only still alive because of me. Because Sai wanted me to stand here, on my birthday, and watch Zach be killed right here, right now, right in front of me and there would be nothing I could do about it. Nothing I could do to stop him. Now I wished Zach had been dead when I walked in here. It would have been better to see him dead then to see his death.

I felt like I couldn't breathe and not because anyone pressed a button to stop me from breathing. No this was all me.

Sai smiled as he went over to the door that connected this room to Zach's prison while a guard and another entered through the other door.

Now I knew I was going to be watching Sai kill Zach while the two guards stayed behind and watched me with the remote handed over to them.

Only I was suddenly walking and if my face could move—if it wasn't paralyzed and could show an emotion—than a flash of confusion would have clearly been visible.

My feet kept walking towards the open door as Sai smiled moving the controls in his hand and watching me with glee. Soon I was inside and the door was shut behind me and I wondered what exactly was going on.

I wasn't in control so was I…were they going to make me kill Zach?

**(A/N: Oh, I was soooo tempted to stop the chapter right here…)**

Before I could try and figure out what was going on through their minds my feet were shuffling over straight to Zach who didn't move except for his chest—barely.

Soon I was in front of him and still he didn't budge.

Now I had a close up view of him and his injuries. It was worse up close.

There were deep gashes over his entire body and long deep scars across his face mixing in with the bruises. His cheeks were hollowed in which only meant that he was barely eating enough to survive. His hair was now darker as I saw before only now that I was up closer I could see it was caked deeply in blood. I wanted to back up. I wanted to look around, cover my options and see if I couldn't free him or at least wake him. I wanted…

I was already leaning down my hands outstretched. This was it. I was going to kill Zachary Goode. I was going to strangle him with my bare hands. He would wake up then and see me, stare at me while I watched as I drained the life out of his eyes.

Except my hands rested on his cheeks which seemed to stir him. He didn't open his eyes though as I lifted his face. Before I had a chance to think what their next move for me was my lips were already on Zach's and moving but not to my own accord.

That woke Zach up and I felt the bite before the sting. My head was pulled back inches as I stared into Zach's eye and he realized it was me. I could see it dawning on him through his eyes just as easily as I could feel the taste of my own blood in my mouth.

"Galla—"

I cut him off by bringing my lips back to his, or well, Sai cut him off by controlling me to bring my lips back to his. But to my delight nonetheless I could feel Zach kissing me back and hard, which was shocking. He must be forgetting where we were and the trouble we—or he—was in since I doubted he realized I was in trouble. I wasn't the one tied and bruised up except for my lip even the scars from the metal shackles I had on prior had healed perfectly.

His tongue traced my lower lip hitting the spot where it was bleeding, or barely bleeding now, and that jostled back his memory. He pulled back staring at me, staring straight at me and I could see that he was trying to figure out what was going on. Something I would also like to know, because something was not right here.

I actually felt happy or at least happier than I had been before. Sai wouldn't want that.

"Cameron, what—?"

Zach started but I interrupted him yet again and not with a kiss. I slapped him across the cheek hard and stepped back. My hand throbbed as I watched the new red mark on his cheek covering a few of the scars.

Zach gritted his teeth holding back and I knew that the hit must have hurt more now with his other injuries, but apparently I—or rather Sai—wasn't through with him yet.

For my leg went back a second and then swung full force and straight into Zach's left leg. A crack sounded the room as a long line of swearing flew from Zach's mouth.

I stood there perfectly still as the words started slowly down and long gasps took over. Finally, what felt like days Zach looked up at me and I waited to see the anger, the hatred.

Only what I saw was worse, way worse, as I stared into a truly hurt gaze. Why couldn't he glare at me like Sai? Why couldn't he cuss me out? Why couldn't he do something to lash out his anger on me? This…this was worse in so many ways.

Shaking his head as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Cameron." There was a pause. "Is it hot out?" **[A/N: I couldn't think of anything else casual to say. My mind immediately went to when Cammie said that a man looked awfully toasty in a coat when I wrote this.]**

_Am I being forced?_

_YES!_

I just stared at him blankly, my lips remained unmoving.

Zach's gaze narrowed. "Are you angry about something?" he asked as if he we were standing in the living room. As if we were having a normal conversation, an everyday squabble. As if we weren't standing in a torture room with me adding onto his pain.

And still I remained silent.

Now Zach's rage seemed to surface although the hurt never left his eyes. "Why won't you answer me?"

I walked forward again and kneeled down staring him straight in the eye. My hands were reaching up as if back to cup his face before swerving, grabbing his shoulder, and twisting it hard. I heard the pop, saw the look of pain in his eyes before they closed, and heard all the foul words full blown in my ear.

Then I stood and walked away back to the door and out of the room. All the way back to where Sai and the two guards were and Sai was the only one smiling. Well, one of the guards had a very slight, barely noticeable turn of the lips.

"So, did you enjoy your present? Because it won't be here next year."

For once during the whole ordeal I was glad I was being controlled. Not too hold me back or anything, because there was nothing I would want more than to fight Sai right here, right now. But because I was afraid that instead of throwing out a set of punches I would fall to the floor in a puddle of my own tears.

If I was not paralyzed tears would be falling down my cheeks right now. I could feel there sting behind my eyes, but luckily not one shed, not one was able to fall. So for that one and only time I saw the bright side of my paralyzed state.

**A/N: Did you love it? Hate it? Was it unexpected? Or totally expected? I hope for the prior, but we'll see.**


	24. Don't Get Caught

Chapter 24: Don't Get Caught

Days passed when I saw Jonas again. He seemed anxious and worried when he came into the room I was residing in brought to me by another guard.

Some alert had been sounding off for the past eleven minutes and fifty three seconds.

Leaving Jonas in the room the guard who brought him and the other guard who had been guarding me hurried out of the room. Going, I logically assumed, to where the alarm was sounding off.

It was most likely set off by someone trying to get in or someone trying to get out.

I studied Jonas as he held the remote in shaking hands and walked back and forth in front of the bed. He was a nervous wreck. His hair was sticking out on end, his clothes were wrinkled, and there were dark, deep circles under his eyes. It looked like Jonas hadn't had a good night's rest in, well, probably the last time I saw him. Something was troubling him deeply with his new mad scientist look, because honestly when I first saw him walking into the room 'mad scientist' was the first term that came into my mind in how to describe Jonas.

He turned and looked at me and came over to my bedside. "I didn't mean for this to happen, Cammie." Those were the first words that came out of his mouth as I stared at him blankly.

Not answering him made him more concern, but there was the problem that apparently Jonas didn't realize was that I couldn't reply. My mouth was shut tight by the remote.

"Cammie, I'm sorry, you have to understand this was never my intention. Please Cammie answer me," Jonas continued. For a guy who was a genius he wasn't entirely bright at the moment or maybe this was a result from lack of sleep. If you're too tired you miss the most obvious of things. "Cammie if—" He stopped as a light in his eyes came on.

He pressed a button on the remote and everything above my shoulders I was able to move.

"This was your creation," I said in a cold, measured voice. "It was your idea to come up with a device to control people." I probably should have asked about the alarm. Found out what was happening first but there was one thing on my mind that had been bugging me lately and that was the fact that I was in this mess might have a little to do with Jonas's creation.

Jonas looked in a way devastated. "That was never my intention for the chip Cammie. You have to understand that I created this chip to help people not hurt them."

The only thing the chip was doing to me was hurting me, crippling me, so I had a hard time believing Jonas. Actually, I had a hard time believing Jonas for a lot of reasons but all them were based off him creating this chip.

"Really?" I asked sarcastically, shaking my head in disbelief. "Because from what I can tell there isn't one good thing about controlling someone."

"It wasn't meant to control people, exactly," Jonas replied. "I created this chip in mind as a type of torture device."

"Oh, Jonas, that's terrific. It's even better than simply controlling people. Now you can torture them day in and day out and never stop." This statement was entirely sarcastic.

"That's not what I meant. Well, it is but…," Jonas was stating and having a hard time doing so. Either way it wasn't sounding good. "Listen, I've seen people, we've seen people, tortured to death for information and that information sometimes isn't received. And the next thing you know thirty people are dead or even three hundred." Jonas looked down at the ground sighing. "I wanted a device that would torture people without killing them. I wanted something to keep them alive and bring them pain that was all mental but felt real so that they would eventually tell us what would happen, and a lot faster than before. Because the number one reason that we don't get the information we need is because the person who has it goes to the grave with the knowledge and they know it. But this device keeps that from happening; it makes them stay alive, and takes the sweet relief of death out of the picture."

I laid there motionless because one I had no other choice, and two I was digesting what Jonas told me trying to decide whether or not to believe it.

It was silent for several minutes before Jonas said, "You don't remember, do you?"

"Remember, what?"

Only Jonas shook his head. "I just wanted you to know Cammie the reason I created this…this Frankenstein. It was for good reasons in the beginning but I guess most inventions are and just like most inventions and ideas they can be manipulated into monsters of their former selves in order to accomplish dreadful objective." Jonas turned, racking his free hand through his disheveled hair. "I'm sorry this happened to you and I'm sorry about the child. If I knew this would have happened I would never have worked with this idea. I would have ended it before it had a chance to start." He turned around and for the first time I could see actual rage in Jonas's face. "I would have never shown it to Mr. Jacobson."

I wasn't scared per say of Jonas, but I wouldn't have dared let out a laugh right then not that there was any way I could have. He looked deeply and thoroughly angry. I never thought I would see him look this upset and the expression didn't seem to fit him. He really needed to blow off steam.

Thinking for a moment about what he said I asked, "What child?"

He blinked for a moment and the angry look he had started to waver and was being replaced by a weary one. "You haven't put it together yet?"

"Put what together?" I asked just as started to dawn on me.

"The miscarriage," Jonas said a little uncomfortably. "Sai and his accomplices did crazy, unhealthy things to your body. Some of which you weren't entirely aware about. I'm not sure if they were trying to succeed in terminating your pregnancy or if it was just an added bonus." Then he shrugged as he added, "Or maybe it wasn't because of them at all."

_But it was._

At least most likely it seemed that the miscarriage was because of this. As Zach had told me before Kelsie didn't understand why I had a miscarriage. I was healthy and young and had no problems, except for one that none of us knew about.

_Zach…_

"Why is the alarm going off?" I asked as the siren continued to wail. Was it ever going to stop?

Jonas perked up at the sound of this. "There's been a breach in security," Jonas stated as I stared at him. "People escaped." And with that I could feel the release of my entire body.

I sat up and stared immediately towards the camera in the room.

"The entire computer mainframe was hacked into. None of the cameras in any building, in any room are working." I looked over at Jonas who was wearing a sly smile.

"You did this?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. His smile never faltered.

"As far as anyone knows someone made an error in using the remote causing the release of a couple intelligent prisoners and the rest is unknown."

"Other prisoners as in people like me?" I asked him. "People under control of the chip."

Jonas nodded. "Only one other spy has escaped." Then gently he added, "One who wasn't under control of a chip."

"Zach?"

He didn't answer. "You need to leave Cameron."

Jonas was right I had my perfect opportunity, one I had been waiting for, for so long and I was letting it slip by. But I couldn't leave without answers.

"I'm not sure where everyone is going we're a bit out in the middle of nowhere, but they're all escaping nonetheless. I guess the best bet would be the small patch of woods that leads into neighboring towns, but they aren't close. You'll have to travel a ways to reach them. Anyway, I think you still might find some of the prisoners around the building waiting, but I'm not positive, most are simply scattering."

"What about Zach?" I asked again as Jonas started to guide me to the door. "And what about you, won't they know that you helped me escape?"

Jonas grinned sheepishly and backed away holding his arms out. "Do I look like I'm in my best condition? I could honestly hit the floor right now and fall asleep and I might just end up doing that when you leave. So who's to say I don't make a mistake myself and became overpowered by a spy like you?" He gave me a slight wink as if stating that it wouldn't be hard in taking him out. I almost wanted to smile, for the first time, over that. "Besides that who say's I'm staying here."

"But…weren't you here because other people's lives were on the line?"

Pausing he said slowly, "Yes. And most of those people are escaping right now. There are others but…it doesn't matter you need to leave." He started to gently push me towards the door.

When we reached the door he looked out first before holding it open for me. He waited for me to step out but instead I stood there and asked, "Did Zach escape?"

My thoughts went straight back to when I last saw him. Was there any possible way he could have walked out of here? He was probably even more injured then the last time I saw him.

"I think one of them has him."

"The prisoners?" I asked and Jonas nodded.

I wasn't sure what to think of that but Jonas added, "He could hardly walk. If one of them didn't take him from me he never would have made it out."

"You helped him escape?"

Jonas never answered me though. Instead he said, "Cammie, go," and pushed me out. It wasn't much of a push though and I was more than willing to leave. Once I stood on the other side Jonas shut the door and left me standing there alone and in the open.

Only I didn't stand there for long. I was running, hard and silently, through the hallway trying to make my own escape. All I needed was to find a door that led outside to my freedom. I didn't need to make any side trips because there was no need. Hopefully Zach was able to get out with someone he could rely on at the moment. Someone who didn't end up ditching him.

There was no time to think about that as I heard footsteps sounding behind me that were almost as loud as my beating, racing heart.

"_Damnit_. They shouldn't be that hard to find and stop," I heard a voice shouting. "They're a bunch of girls. They're not that bright."

To say I was insulted was an understatement. But in that moment I had to bite my tongue. So instead I listened and watched vigilantly from my seat behind a large, antique vase.

"Where are the remotes?" I heard a rather short man ask. My heart gave a lurch and my mouth went dry as a couple of remotes were held out from one of the other guards. "Good. If you find one of them, you know what to do. Now you"—he pointed to the few on his left—"search the top grounds and the rest of you follow me. We'll spread out in the back. I think most headed there thinking it was safer than the front."

They left quickly to my relief as one thought ran through my mind, _I cannot be seen._

It was over for me as soon as one of them even caught a glimpse of me. I knew that since they had the remotes and therefore the power and control in their hands.

Searching I ran toward the front where it obviously seemed to be less secured or so I hoped.

A few times I ran into a guard but each time I was able to find a spot to hide in a few seconds. Not all the spots were exactly great hiding places but not one person seemed to notice me and I became extremely thankful for my clothes that seemed to easily blend into the beige background.

I was in the front and out the door breathing fresh, clean air in a matter of minutes. The minute I stepped out the door I lunged for the bushes as the guards who stood in front of the building had their backs to me and were scanning and pointing at the road in front of them.

They were busy talking and looking ahead that I was able to cross through the few bushes before making it to the side of the large building. I bolted for the next, closer, and much smaller building. Crossing over to the side of the building and looking around the corner was when I first spotted them.

**A/N: Sorry it's taken me awhile to post. But I've had tests, papers, and a presentation to worry about for the past couple of weeks. And I still have a paper and test due next week so it might be awhile before the next chapter. But at least this one leaves off on a semi-good note.**

**Opinions? Review!**

**Note: Only a few more chapters left…maybe six?**


	25. Escape

Chapter 25: Escape

They were young and a part of the female persuasion wearing similar clothing as myself but theirs looked a lot more ragged and worn. This meant they had probably been here for awhile.

There were several differences between the two girls. One was older—maybe a year or two older than me—with darker features reminding—painfully—of Bex and the other girl was in her early teens with ghostly pale skin most likely due to not being under the sun in awhile. The youngest, wide-eyed girl saw me first and immediately drew the attention of the older one who seemed to be the leader at the moment.

Looking over at me with a cautious gaze she took in my look her eyes traveling up and down slowly, sizing me up while I stood perfectly still. The corner of her lip curled upward as she commented, "I haven't seen you before. You must be the new _toy_ all the guards were talking about."

At the word 'toy' the younger girl flinched and her sleeve came up just enough to see a slight scar on the upper part of her left arm.

"I guess so," I replied watching the youngest while the oldest girl kept her gaze fixed on me. "I'm Cam—"

The girl held out her hand interrupting me, "Names aren't important here." She looked me over one final time. "Right now we have to concentrate on escaping." She looked away from me and over at a corner five feet away where a few military type cars were parked. "Perfect," she said under her breath.

"We can't drive those," I said almost immediately after seeing where her gaze went off to.

Did she not see the danger?

Apparently not by the annoyed look she was now giving me.

"Well maybe you can't but I can."

She stood and I grabbed her arm. She yanked it away and looked at me viciously, her lips almost curling upward as an animalistic snarling type of sound came out of her. The other, younger girl was backing away from the scene clearly terrified of confrontation.

"Look," I said trying to reason with her, "we can't take those cars because none of the other guards are driving them." I paused hoping my words were sinking into her letting her see the light of her bad judgment, but she just gave me a blank look. "There's a reason for that!"

"Like what?" she snapped. I mentally cringed from the volume but it seemed unnoticed by the guards around us, at least no one was suddenly coming around the corner. The girl, however, didn't even seem worried about being heard. She clearly wasn't fit for the spy life.

Lowering my voice I said, "Because they're waiting for some idiot prisoner to go for a joy ride thinking they have the perfect escape. But they'll either being stopped or shot down within seconds. That is why no other cars are going because it's a trap for us. They don't need them because they have the remotes and guns. They have the control and we don't. We need to find another way in getting out of here without being noticed. It's the only way we'll make it."

_Clearly_, I thought_, she must see the logic._

But the girl just shook her head and with a grin said, "You don't know the way I drive. Plus there are machine guns planted on top of some of the trucks. I'll shoot them all down before they have a chance to stop me." A scary, murderous look glazed over her eyes as her grin grew wider—suddenly I was a little fearful of and for her. She looked over at the other girl who was sitting on the ground watching the both of us with worried eyes. "Are you coming, Hannah?"

Hannah looked from me to the other girl unsure of whom to follow.

Before she had a chance to speak—that is if she ever would—I said, "Did you not hear what I said? They have the controllers. Once they see you or hear you they can stop you. No matter how fast you are, you won't be fast enough."

That statement seemed to hit a certain emotional string and her fists clenched at her side. The last thing I needed was to get into a fight with this girl. Otherwise I would be going down with her.

I stepped back slightly with raised hands in defeat. "Do what you want," I told her in complete surrender mode.

A smile came back as she looked happy with the shift in power. "As it should be," she said and looked back down at the shaking girl. "Hannah?"

"N-o," the girl said quivering with fright. "I'm goi-ng wi-th h-e-r." She pointed at me.

The older, questionably sane girl shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself, but don't come crying to me when you can't escape. Because…well, for one you'll be trapped her and I'll be free." Then shifting things to her side she added, "It's not like I need extra weight. See you Hannah and don't follow me." She left with a sense that she was abandoning Hannah instead of the other way around.

It seemed Hannah fell for it to as she looked completely lost with the girl gone and then her gaze shifted to me needing someone to follow.

"Come on," I said with a motion of my hand. We needed to get away from here and fast. "Do you happen to know where we could find the guards uniforms?"

Relief swelled over the girl's face as she nodded and pointed. In minutes we were gone from the spot just as there was a sound of cheering followed by a shout, "We have one!" No car engine ever even sounded.

* * *

It took five minutes and twelve seconds to find a uniform that wasn't so outrageously large on me. Still, I looked scrawny. Hopefully it wouldn't be too noticeable that this uniform wasn't really designed for me or that my hat was just a little too high on my head.

Turning I looked over to see how Hannah was doing, which wasn't good as she let out a frustrated sigh.

None of the uniforms were fitting her much smaller frame. The latest one she was wearing covered her hands completely and left four inches of fabric hanging lifelessly. Her pants were staying on but only if she stood perfectly still otherwise with one step they suddenly fell to the floor on top of her boots which was the only part of the outfit that fit her. Luckily she had large feet which she unfortunately hadn't grown into yet.

She looked over at me and I could see the fear in her eyes, which was understandable in the situation we were in that she obviously wasn't prepared for.

I thought I knew why she was afraid but when she spoke I realized I wasn't even close.

"You're leaving me." It was a statement not a question. It was something she expected when she realized none of the uniforms were going to fit her right. It was something a rational, uncaring person would do. Right now I wasn't much of both.

She didn't wait for my response though. She just sat down on the ground defeated, facing the wall so I could only see her back. But I could see the light tremors going up her back from the tears she tried to hold onto.

It broke me as I realized how little hope and fight this girl had in her.

With a quick scan outside the room to make sure no one was onto us yet I turned back to the girl. "No," I said, "I'm not leaving you behind."

The girl looked back at me with unshed tears in her eyes as she asked, "Why?" Then as a tear slid down her cheek she added in a softer voice, "Everyone else did. Even Celeste, the girl you saw earlier."

For a moment I took this information in. "You were with other girls?" I asked.

She nodded. "One of the first groups to have escaped, but I was too slow and clumsy that they left me behind. They didn't want to get dragged by extra weight."

"Where…Was there a boy with you?" I asked. "Someone injured."

This time she shook her head. I wasn't sure whether or not this was good news, but Hannah continued. "I heard from the other girls that there was a guy greatly injured that two other girls from another smaller group took. I don't know if he was taken with them all the way or if they eventually dumped him as well. He was in pretty bad shape from what the girls were saying although it could be an exaggeration."

_Or not._

Shaking my head I cleared my thoughts. I couldn't let this get to me. Zach escaped, that's all I could allow myself to assume right now no matter how unlikely. I had to concentrate on getting myself and this girl out of here and fast. The sound of alert had ceased a minute ago and this I was taking as not a good sign.

I held out my hand to Hannah who hesitantly accepted and I hoisted her up. Then I looked her over as I said, "I think I can fix this."

* * *

For once I was glad that my school had invested my seventh grade time in a four day lesson on how to alternate outfits with very little material. Who knew it would actually come in handy.

Looking out the door again I saw the coast was clear and stepped out while Hannah followed close behind. Her pants no longer had trouble staying in place.

When we came to the corner of the hall, looking past it, I could see guards formed in a loose circle as there was a discussion over what the plan of action was going to be.

Knowing it could be a mistake that would coast dearly but having no other choice I turned to Hannah and whispered, "Act like you belong." Her eyes widened when she became aware of what I was intending. "Whatever you do act confident and secure and they will never have a chance to second guess."

Without waiting for her reply I stepped away from the small comfort and protection I received from the hallway and into the crowd of awaiting guards.

I might as well have stepped into a lion's den.

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in over a month, but you know with school it's not easy. Okay, so I hoped you liked the chapter and if you haven't noticed already there is a poll on my profile asking if you want a sequel for this story. The choices are: a) Yes!, c) Uh…duh, e) Depends on the ending, b) No, d) Are you crazy!**

**There are two possible endings for this story, my original and one I wrote sometime during the summer. The second ending pretty much guarantees a sequel. So vote and state your opinions.**


	26. Lion's Den

Chapter 26: Lion's Den

The minute I walked into the group I could feel eyes on me, taking me in, looking me over.

_This was it,_ I thought, _I either found a way to escape or made the worst mistake of my life._

I was praying for the prior especially for Hannah's sake.

The man in the front, our leader I presumed, continued to talk and the gazes on me became fewer and fewer and internally I sighed. I could still feel a few lingering looks, which were expected. They probably knew something was wrong with me, that I looked off to them but they couldn't figure out why. I couldn't make miracles with the little amount of supplies I had. But as long as they didn't realize Hannah and I were females then we would be fine…probably.

"You," the leader said pointing to me, no longer ranting off to the rest of the soldiers. He squinted at me. "What's your name?"

_Don't panic._

I was hoping this wouldn't happen, but as long as I remained cool and confident, acted like I belonged, and showed no fear I should be okay.

I opened my mouth fully prepared to speak and make up some last name and a possible story on the spot when someone else interrupted me.

"One of the new guards that came last week," Amritha said for me. She came out of nowhere and walked straight to the center, straight to the leader. "Sergeant Johansson, I believe."

The leader looked over at me, still squinting his eyes. "A new guard, huh? Sai is okay with this."

"My brother requested it," Amritha replied as the leader looked back over to her.

I wasn't sure whether or not she was lying. She was calm and talked with ease. No visible tell signs. She was either telling the truth or was an excellent liar, a pro. I'm not sure which option made me feel less uneasy.

"Storn, you do know how much my brother dislikes when a situation is not looking in his favor. And when thirty of his prisoners have escaped and are now missing that certainly does not please him, especially with the presentation occurring within the month. He needs to have something to show for his experiment."

"But we have six back under our custody," someone on my left shouted out. The leader looked over at him with a severe, unhappy gaze.

Amritha took this into consideration for a few seconds before looking back at Storn. "He wants all or none back and he's willing to put any of his men"—her gaze shifted to me for a second—"trained or untrained, from this country or another, onto this search and seize. I suggest you place them in the trucks and start heading off in search for the others before my brother loses any more of his temper."

Storn gritted his teeth looking even more unpleased. His gaze was sharp and cold on Amritha and yet she stood her ground. "I know what I am doing, but thank you for the status update."

It was strange, the words 'thank you' came out of his mouth and yet it had sounded anything like anything other than appreciation. By his tone it had sounded more like a threat.

"You're welcome Storn," Amritha replied completely calm. Then in a language I never studied or heard before she spoke a few more words and then she was off, heading down the hall.

Storn still gritted his teeth and took me in before he started giving me an order. "You two," he said pointing to me and someone behind me who I was praying was Hannah. It would make things easier and less complicated if I was partnered up with her. "I want you out in a truck heading east into the woods looking for any stragglers trying to hide there. Understand?"

"Yes," we replied in unison. It didn't sound like Hannah.

He shook his head not looking content but waved his hand dismissing my new partner and me.

When I turned my partner was already walking down the hall and by the way the person was walking, unclear of the path, I instantly knew it was Hannah. That at least solved one crisis and we were one step closer to freedom.

Heading off I quickly walked up to Hannah's side and she gave me a queasy, unsteady smile. I kept my gaze trained ahead not wanting anything else to go wrong.

We turned a corner, walked down another long hall, and then out a door where we ended up standing right back outside. It was almost like a ghost town now. There was another guard here or there, but there were few and far between. None of them even spared a glance at us, which was a very good thing. We didn't need anyone else suspicious of us.

Although there was one other person outside that was not a guard, instead it was Amritha. The minute she saw us she waved and turned a corner. I knew she wanted us to follow her.

I turned to Hannah to see what she thought of our newest possible friend.

She was staring with blurry, unsure eyes. "She was always so nice," Hannah said in a low voice looking over at me. "I don't understand how they're related. He's so…she's so nice." She started walking off towards Amritha's direction with watery eyes, no other words came out of her mouth.

I really hoped that we didn't run into any of the other guards out here. One of us about to cry would be hard to explain well.

Within minutes we were standing by the military cars with only Amritha with us.

"How did you know?" I asked her immediately.

She shrugged. "When I saw you walking over to them, I could tell there was something off about you. There was just something about you that didn't look quite right, no offense. What gave it away though was how this one"—she wrapped an arm around Hannah's shoulder—"was very unsure of her steps and you were completely confident, but yet you both came in together and knew each other, I suspected. That was how I knew it had to be you Cameron and…Hannah?" She looked over at Hannah questionably. Hannah nodded as a tear fell across her cheek. She squeezed Hannah tighter. "Anyway, I covered for you, I hope you don't mind."

I shook my head. "No, not at all. I'm glad you did, you helped make the story more believable. Which makes me wonder how much of that story was true?"

"Well," Amritha replied looking up at the sky. "My brother is quite upset. I'm sure he wants everything that can possibly be done to bring him back his…well, slaves, I guess would be the right word." She shrugged and there was suddenly a glint in her eye. "And I've added two more to his crew, although what they choose to do with the cars is out of my hands."

She threw me the keys—that I hadn't notice she was holding until the last minute—to me and then opened the passenger door. "Good luck." She let go of Hannah and stepped aside. Hannah slid into the seat and looked at me, waiting.

I turned to Amritha. "Why are you doing this? He's your brother."

Amritha sighed. "Yes, well, I don't agree with what my brother is doing. I don't agree with him at all, but I can't leave. This is home." She held out her arms, indicating the entire landscape. "It's where I've lived all my life, back to when my parents were still alive and Sai wasn't quite so…bad. But it doesn't matter, because he's still my brother and that fact will never change. I have to stay and maybe, someday, get through to him."

Then suddenly there was another loud warning sound that started ringing out. All three of us looked over at the main building where it was coming from. "I have to go, goodbye Cameron."

Amritha was gone and I knew then that I was never going to see her again. I looked back at the car and Hannah who was covering her ears.

"What does it mean?" she asked about the noise.

"It means we're not sticking long enough to find out."

* * *

I hopped into the car, turned on the engine, drove off, and really started to pray for the first time.

What seemed like hours later, but really was only forty-three minutes, we were just starting to reach the end of the woods and still hadn't been caught by anyone. Nor had we seen anyone else, the other girls wherever they may be hiding.

Through the whole car ride we had been silent. It wasn't uncomfortable or comfortable silence, more of an in-between type. We were both worrying about different things, but were concerned with only one—escape. We were so close that it was almost painful to think about. One wrong move, unlucky event could change our situation for the worse. It was draining.

"We should walk from here," I told Hannah, stopping the car. I killed the engine and I looked down at our clothes. "We should also change, if we had anything else to wear." I took off my hat and unraveled my unwashed, unkempt hair. "We could run into the others possibly soon here and we don't want to look like the enemy. We don't want to give them any reason to instantly kill us," I told a wide-eyed Hannah.

She nodded, quickly taking off her own hat as if it was a death sentence—which in a way it was. We stepped out of the car leaving our hats in our unclaimed seats.

"Should we hide the car?" Hannah asked staring at the monster of a vehicle. It stood out fairly easy when not enough trees were surrounding it. "In case other guards come."

I looked at the woods and could see a few empty looking houses at the very end. They probably weren't empty though at least not for today. "There's no place to hide it. We'll be fine."

We started to walk, edging closer and closer to the houses. I stared down at my clothes and wished they didn't stand out so much in the forest, but they did, which may have been why we were instantly attacked and as I on lay on my back I was staring straight up into a familiar looking face.

**A/N: Ah, so who is the familiar face? Review and maybe you will find out. And don't forget to caste your vote on the sequel, if you haven't already.**


	27. Reunion Flaws

**A/N: So basically everybody guessed the familiar face was Zach (come on guys you know me). Gallagherspygirl was the closest person in getting it right, so mount loads of virtual candy for her.**

Chapter 27: Reunion Flaws

"Mickey?" I asked through quivering lips.

Her hair was shorter and her features more angler, but there was no doubt in my mind that the girl in front of me wasn't my fellow Gallagher classmate, Mick Morrison.

She stared at me through unsure eyes not letting go of the incredibly sharp piece of wood against my throat. "Cameron?"

"Mick, let her go," I heard another, strained voice say behind her.

_Zach._

I could feel my heart start to flutter as Mick ever so cautiously stepped off of me while still holding tightly to the stick. Zach took her place.

He didn't look as bad as I thought he would, but he still wasn't in great shape. He wasn't standing fully on his right leg, I noticed. He was watching me carefully through guarded eyes on a blank face. He didn't offer me a hand up. "Cameron?" he asked.

"Zach?"

We remained where we were while I listened to the other conversations floating around. I could hear Hannah talking animatedly to other people—girls, former slaves, escaped prisoners—who had started gathering around us.

"Those clothes really do nothing for your figure," Zach said with a crack of a smile. "Hate to say it but they make you look like a guy." A smile slipped onto my face. He didn't seem angry when he should have been from the last time we had seen each other.

He held out his hand and pulled me up and I could feel him straining in doing that. I bit my lip.

Back on my feet I could see my surroundings better, clearer. I could see Hannah smiling, encircled by a swarm of girls who were vigorously nodding their heads at every word she said. There were other girls who weren't standing around her but instead were either watching Zach and me or were not paying any attention to…well, reality. They just wandered around with no purpose, no goal. There was also no sign of Mick. She had vanished. Had I made her up? No, I didn't think so.

I hoped not.

Looking at Zach, still feeling his hand wrapped around mine, and his gaze, not exactly warm, was starting to soften. Something inside me clicked. _He knew. Somehow he knew._ He wouldn't be this close to me if he didn't, not when he was this vulnerable. _Zach…vulnerable?_ Those words sounded strange together.

"Do you know?" I asked. It came out soft and I realized how unclear the question was, but I couldn't ask it any other way.

"About the chip in your head?" Zach said for me. His fist came up and knocked against the side of my head softly. "Yeah, I know. The other girls told me about it, how it works on controlling you." I closed my eyes not really wanting to think about that part. Zach continued, "Mick doesn't know though. She doesn't stay around long enough to hear the stories. She's more of a healer and sit on guard duty, waiting for the first suspicious person to come by to pounce on, rather than a listener."

I opened my eyes and he shrugged. "Do you know how awkward that sentence was?"

He gave me a look. "I was tortured. I think I'm allowed one awful structured sentence, don't you?"

I didn't respond. We stood in silence hands still wrapped together, the warmth starting to coarse through me. I wondered if Zach even noticed.

Stepping closer—we were already only a few inches apart—Zach pushed a few locks of my hair back and whispered, "I missed you."

I didn't have a chance to respond—not that I had any idea on how to respond to Zach's words, they didn't belong to me even though I wanted them to—as Mick's voice sounded, cutting through. "Zach, what are you doing? You shouldn't be standing up for so long."

It was then that I realized how tight Zach's grip on my hand had gotten and that it seemed he was starting to lean against me.

Quickly and carefully Mick and I got Zach down to a seating position on the earth-packed ground behind one of the empty houses even against his few protests. Mick shook her head at him. "He's not supposed to stand up for more than ten minutes, yet. Make sure he doesn't get up," she told me ignoring Zach's grunts. She quickly stood back up and left us.

I sat down next to Zach, his hand immediately rested on my knee and I laid my own on top of his. Looking at him I could see the scars and bruises and could tell the new ones apart from the old ones. He had a black eye and his eyelids were starting to droop along with his head. He was having trouble staying awake.

Without consciously realizing it I started to trace my finger over a scar across his left cheek and up onto his forehead. When I realized what I was doing at the same time as Zach, the memory of the time when Zach had traced one of my old scars hit my mind.

Quickly I pulled my finger away as if it had suddenly caught on fire from the memory.

I held my finger tightly in my hand as Zach shifted against the wall of the house.

He took my hand in his and said in a far away voice, "I remember when I once did that, traced your injuries." He looked back up at me and his grip on my hand tightened. "Promise me Cammie you're not going to do anything stupid."

I rolled my eyes. "Zach."

His grip became even tighter and his eyes looked wilder. "Promise me, Gallagher Girl. Promise me you'll stay right here, right next to me. Promise me."

I stayed silent, biting my lip, and keeping my gaze from his.

"Cammie."

Sighing I looked back at Zach. "I promise." He stared at me for a few minutes before seeming satisfied and looked away at nothing. His grip on my hand loosened but didn't let go.

I turned my head in the other direction, staring ahead at several other trees and said under my breath, "I promise to do what I can to keep you safe."

When I looked back over Zach's eyes were closed and his grip on my hand fell. I leaned my head against his shoulder watching Hannah who no longer looked nervous or scared and smiled.

I started to wonder where Mick had gone again. We needed to leave here and soon, there wasn't much time left.

Looking at Zach and seeing how pale he was I thought, _not much time at all._

* * *

I found out that Mick had been hard at work for the past several hours gathering up groups of girls, teaching them basic skills of how to fight, telling them where to go, and then sending them off. When Hannah and I stumbled upon them she was on her last group. A group that now included Hannah.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Hannah asked me again. "Get out of here as soon as possible?"

I looked back over at Zach who was still knocked out and at Mick who leaning over him checking his signs. I had also found out that when Zach had been sent on this mission, months ago, he hadn't been sent alone. Mick had been his partner and his partner was still doing a much better job of being there for him, taking care for him than I had been doing. She was making for a much better wife.

Turning to Hannah I could see her eyebrows lifting as she saw the doubts I was having. It would be so easy to tell her 'yes' and leave this all behind and go…go where? I was still Cammie who didn't remember anything in the past seven years trapped, stumbling in a world I didn't understand quite yet.

Quickly I shook my head and said clearly, "No. I should stay with Zach…my husband." I hated how weird it felt to say those words and how my voice seemed so awkward to my own ears. Would this situation ever be normal?

"Oh," Hannah said with surprise. She looked over at Zach and Mick. "He's your husband…oh, okay." She turned back to me with a sheepish smile. "Thanks, Cameron for getting me this far. Maybe I'll see you sometime in the future." She wrapped her arms around me in a hug, which I awkwardly returned and then left with the others.

Now, that only left three of us—Zach, Mick, and me. I turned to see Mick shaking her head, standing, and looking over at me with a blank face. "I think he's getting worse. There's a possible infection and I can't seem to wake him up again. Someone's going to have to carry him while someone else plays lookout."

I looked at Zach, lying on the ground unconscious, and then back to Mick who was bright eyed and waiting. "I'll be the look out," I replied.

Mick looked the least injured and most stable out of all three of us and I…well I needed something more to do. I needed to be the lookout rather than follow someone blindingly. Not that I didn't trust Mick, she seemed more than capable and I was leaving Zach in her hands. So far she was the one who had been taking care of him the best.

We started to hike out in the opposite direction of the last group and the ones before that. Apparently Mick knew this area well, and there were two separate home bases in two opposite directions. I wasn't sure if she was right, but I was putting my trust and faith with her along with Zach.

For awhile we didn't cross any problems, but then that always seems to come to an end.

I could hear them before I could see them. We were already going through another space of woods when tree branches snapped and angry whispers were thrown around.

Mick looked at me and I looked at a still unconscious Zach beside her while listening to the closer and closer footsteps.

They knew we were here. Somehow, they knew we were here.

I wasn't sure if I should be angry with Mick, but she seemed as nervous as me.

For whatever reason, whether it was because of the way Zach looked or how Mick was treating him ten times better than I had or simply the promise I made to Zach that he didn't know about, I harshly whispered to her, "Hide."

She looked at me with wide eyes as I stared straight back at her not blinking. She quickly realized what I was doing and with one fleeting glance she hid with Zach and I waited to be caught. The guards didn't fail.

**A/N: Three more chapters left, the next one will be at the climax point.**


	28. Death Visits

Chapter 28: Death Visits

I remember being attacked for a second time that day—by a few familiar faces as well—before they overpowered me and I was knocked out and thrown into one of the military cars. I remember waking up in the backseat and seeing the familiar building that made my stomach turn. I remember being roughly handled, pulled out of the car, and dragged up the front stairs while I weakly fought back. But most of all I remember seeing Sai's face sneering down at me when I was brought all the way to the top until a needle was stuck into my arm and I lost all consciousness again.

When I awoke I was strapped down into a chair with Sai standing in front of me. My body was telling me I had been out for days. How many though, I wasn't sure.

"Seem familiar to you?" Sai asked stretching his arms out.

I looked around the room and back down at my chair and realized that I was sitting in the exact same chair Zach had been sitting in what seemed like ions ago.

Looking back at Sai I could see the remote in his hands and watched as he flipped a switch.

Electric jolts went through me as I shook. I tried to tell myself it was all in my head when it was, but my body refused to believe me. My body only believed that I was being electrocuted.

"You were very disobedient Cameron," Sai said as if he were speaking to a dog. "Very disobedient, indeed."

I clenched my teeth. He flipped the switch back and the bolts disappeared in an instant.

"I know there was someone else with you in those woods. My guards told me that they pressed buttons and flipped switches on the controller and nothing happened, which leads me to suspect that it was you're long lost hubby out there with you." He walked up closer to me staring me straight in the eyes, his breath hitting my face like a gust of wind—rough, wild, and cold. "He had escaped from here as weel and I don't see how he could survive out there by himself. He was so…what's the word, not in terribly great shape." He smiled as if he had won and I knew that he thought Zach was alone out there and dying. I tried to look sadden by his false revelation.

A button was pressed and I couldn't breathe. I wasn't sure if he had closed my throat or simply told my brain that it was closed when it wasn't and I could no longer take in oxygen. Either way I couldn't breathe and was suffocating.

"We only were able to receive a few of my experiments back," Sai continued. _Experiments_, that was Sai's word for us and it had to be the worst of them all. At least if you were called a slave or prisoner you were considered human on some level, even if it was low, but an experiment you weren't human at all just a living, breathing test subject on legs. "And with my temper, ah, none of them were able to last. It's a pity."

_He killed them_, I thought.

I could feel my head starting to become light.

_He's going to kill me now._

Sai looked at me with glee and an upturned smile. "I suppose you think now I'm going to let you suffer the same fate, Cameron, my dear." He held up the controller in his hand. "But no." Another press of the button and I greedily gulped the air around me and closed my eyes relishing it. "I need someone to show at my presentation. Trust me Cameron when I tell you this, I have big plans for you and later on, don't worry, you'll receive your much needed punish—"

Sai wasn't able to finish his statement when one of the guards burst into the room. "Sir?" I opened my eyes.

"What!" Sai screeched, blazing with anger.

"We—um, have a problem?" The guard said it as a question.

Sai shook his head and followed the guard outside the room. Minutes later Sai returned with ruffled hair and somewhat of a smile as he looked at me. "Well Cameron, it appears like I now know what I'm going to do with you." His hand reached behind his back as my restraints lifted away.

I waited, sitting still, and watched as he pulled out a gun.

"It seems we have some unwanted guests up in front." He held the gun out in front of him. "Would you mind taking care of the problem?" My hand reached for the gun. My fingers slid across the polished machinery before gripping the cold, hard steel and bringing it to my chest. "Very good, follow me."

And I did with gun in hand. Not from my own free will of course if I had any free will in this matter the instant the gun was in my hand I would have shot Sai blankly in the face.

* * *

When we came towards to a narrow hallway that led to the front Sai turned to me with a devilish smile. "I suppose you want to know who the gusts are you're about to shoot for me." I could feel the walls starting to close tighter. "It appears that your husband and a friend of his have come over for a visit." Sai stopped walking while I continued walking, stepping right through a open doorway, pushing curtains away.

The gun became heavier as I stepped further across the room. Zach stood near the center. When he turned around I could see a flash of white bandage wrapped around his right ankle. He had his own gun strapped to his side but he didn't reach for it.

He looked at me, not pleased and confused before he took in the gun I held next to my side. For a second he seemed happy but it didn't last long.

My arm lifted up, gun in hand, pointing straight at my _husband_. "I'm sorry Zach. I—" My voice was cut off as my lips snapped shut.

He stood there looking at me with sadden, understanding eyes and still didn't reach for his own gun. He should have. It could all end here.

In my peripheral vision I could see Sai behind the curtains, grinning manically. He still had complete control over me and he knew it. He knew Zach couldn't do anything to stop this but just stand there. Because if Zach tried anything Sai would make me press the trigger and shoot him or he would simply make me shoot him anyway whether Zach moved or not.

Tears that could never come stung at my eyes and then the entire game changed.

Mick came out from above the staircase with a gun in her hand and was pointing straight at me because she didn't know what was happening. She didn't understand. To her all she could see was me preparing to shoot at Zach who was defenseless, held no weapons in his hands.

Shock wasn't evident on my face. It couldn't be because it was paralyzed in a way. But somehow Zach knew something changed. Whether it was a flicker in my eyes, the change in the atmosphere, or the fact that maybe he heard Mickey or could sense her, he knew. He turned around, staring over at Mickey who was standing on the last two steps of the staircase still aiming straight at me.

"Mick put the gun down," Zach told her calmly not moving and staring at her, only her. She didn't make a move. She didn't even take her eyes off me. Her face was completely emotionless.

"She's going to shoot you Zach," Mick replied her eyes narrowing on me as if she was trying to figure me out. I could feel my finger slightly pushing against the trigger of the gun, not pressing it yet, more like teasing it. My thoughts became rambled.

I knew by the look on Mick's face that she saw my change in hand pressure. Seeing that I was preparing to fire, almost teasing her or, well, Sai was anyway. There was a completely new tension in her posture.

"Mickey," Zach said in a tight but calm voice. "Stay out of this. You don't understand what's happening." But Mick never listened.

She fired the gun her aim straight at me and Mick Morrison never missed. I stood still, unable to move, gun in hand pointed at Zach. Everything played out in my mind as the shot went through the air and hit me straight in the chest as I collapsed, falling backwards from impact. I almost wanted to smile thinking I could finally move somewhat on my own accord. Because at least when I fall it won't be because someone pressed a button, it will all because of the law of physics.

Only it didn't work out that way. Instead, Zach got in the way.

He was standing at my left away from the bullet and the next minute he was in front of it, the bullet hit him in the chest and he collapsed onto the floor. It was the vision I had seen minutes before in my mind, only this time Zach and I switched places.

Right then I wanted nothing more than to drop the gun I held and run to Zach falling onto the floor next to him. But I didn't, I continued to stand there with a blank face as if I didn't care what had just happened when everything inside me was breaking apart.

Zach laid there motionless as Mick's jaw dropped completely shaken by the events. Not understanding why her partner just gave up his life for someone about to take it. However the expression didn't last long as she pulled herself together and aimed at me ready to fire again.

A shot rang out.

**A/N: So, dramatic? Unexpected? Too much? Review, please, and tell me what you think.**


	29. Not Safe Quite Yet

Chapter 29: Not Safe Quite Yet

The shot didn't come from Mickey though. In the corner of my eye I could see Sai slump to the floor, the last look on his face was fear. Someone had been walking towards him with a gun and shot him and he had no weapons of his own to protect him, nothing but a plastic device.

The control panel fell out of his hands.

I could hear the footsteps and so could Mick. She took the last two steps on the staircase and stepped around me where she had a clearer view of the curtain trying to see who it was without taking her gaze or gun off of me. I was still a threat to her even though I was pointing the gun at nothing since she moved.

Relief swelled over me as I saw none other than Bex Baxter walking over to Sai, a blank expression on her own face. She picked up the panel looked over at me and then walked from behind the curtain and into clear view for Mickey who also looked relieved and then puzzled by what Bex held in her hand.

With a look of concentration on her face Bex pulled a lever.

My body went into convulsions. She flipped it back the other way almost immediately.

Cautiously she pushed another button.

I was able to open my mouth and I took in a deep, free breath before shouting, "The switch on the far left corner. Pull that switch."

Bex complied and my body was now my own once again. The gun fell out of my hand hitting the floor with a hollow echo that followed me as I ran towards Zach.

I was falling towards him when the gun finally settled on the ground.

"ZACH!" I shouted, tears in my eyes as I ungracefully flung myself onto the floor next to him. "Zach!" I clung to his shoulders pulling him closer to me.

My head fell against his shoulder as the tears started to pour out of my eyes.

"Zach, I'm so sorry. For everything, all of this. I…you know I didn't want this to happen. I never wanted to shoot you. I could never shoot you." I sobbed into his shirt feeling even more helpless in that moment than in the prior months—I almost didn't think that was possible. "Why did you get in the way! You should have let me take it. Why were you so…so stupid?" Another sob racked across my body. "I…I love you." The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could think them through.

It was followed quickly behind by a gasp that came from my throat as I felt two arms wrap around my waist. I didn't pull myself up not wanting this feeling to be a dream, a hallucination. I didn't want to snap out of this if it wasn't reality, if I was only imagining it, if I was only imagining all of this.

"At least I know how you feel now. Besides, I'm not that stupid." His voice was teasing me in more ways than one.

I looked up tears still falling down my cheeks and stared down at Zach who was smiling up at me with no pain in his eyes. "But…how?" Then I was the one who felt stupid. I never checked his pulse. I never checked his wound. I just assumed he was dead when I saw him lying there motionless.

Now that I looked I saw there was no blood. All I could see was a bullet hole.

I ripped the front of Zach's shirt and saw the bullet proof vest.

"You didn't think I would come unprepared, now did you?" I stared down at the vest trying to piece everything together. "It's not like the base would let Mick and me come back here after you, vulnerable. It was hard enough for them to agree with letting me come back at all, injured as I was. But I wasn't going to stay behind…neither was Bex when she found out what happened."

My head met his shoulder once again with fresh new tears falling onto it. His arms wrapped around me tighter as he said soothing words and it stayed like that until I feel asleep right there in his warm, comforting arms finally in complete, utter control of myself.

* * *

My eyes slowly opened. I looked around unsure of where I was for a minute. I sat up and a smile came across my face as I took in the familiar bedroom of my apartment. _My familiar apartment._

There was movement to the left of me and I looked over to see Zach sitting in a chair, watching me.

He looked absolutely the same as before with the only difference being that his right hand was also bandaged.

Grinning I jumped out of the bed and ran over to him flinging myself into his lap, my arms wrapping around his neck. There was no doubt that I surprised him as he drew out a stunned breath. I knew his eyes had widened even though I couldn't see them.

Then I felt his own arms wrapping around me as he chuckled. "Well, I see someone's still in a good mood. Hopefully the drugs have worn off so you aren't as loopy as before."

Now it was my turn to be stunned.

"Drugs? Loopy?" I asked pulling back. "What are you talking about?"

He looked at me seeing my puzzled looked and sighed. His smile was gone as he said, "You went into surgery a week ago to remove the chip in your head." He touched the back of my neck, which was when I felt the thin, rough material of the bandage. "What was the last thing you remember?"

I thought back. A blush came across my cheeks. "It was when I thought you were dead. When I discovered the bullet proof vest was what I last remembered."

The smile came back slightly. "Do you remember everything you told me?"

I nodded my head and then to reinsure before he could ask a question I placed my lips on his.

His hand gently wrapped around the back of my head, above the bandage, as his other arm held my waist tighter, pulling me closer to him. We kept on kissing completely in synch. Electricity was shooting up my body as I pressed myself even closer to him. Hoping and waiting for every memory we shared to come flooding back through the kiss, through the closeness.

Nothing did.

We broke apart engulfing air in large breaths as our foreheads rested together. I didn't realize I was crying, or that a tear slipped away from my eyes, until Zach wiped it away. His finger remained on my cheek.

"Cammie—?"

"I still don't remember," I told him. "I still don't remember what happened before."

His smile didn't fade but there was no dismissing the sadness that was held in his eyes. "That's okay," he said and I wanted to call him a liar right then but he continued. "You might never remember Cammie that's what Kelsie told me and I'm okay with that." He sighed. "Just because you can't remember doesn't mean the end of the world Cam. Life goes on and…and sometimes the process sucks."

A laugh escaped from my throat. I couldn't help it. I leaned away from Zach. "Yeah, I guess so," I said as I tried to break out of Zach's grasp.

He didn't budge an inch.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked an eyebrow raised and a smirk planted on his face.

I placed my hands on his arms ready to pull them apart if I had to. "You're not going to let me go easy, are you," I said in a playful tone.

He shook his head his eyes not leaving mine. "Not when I finally have you back," he said in a voice so dead on serious a chill ran down my spine.

"Oh," was I could say back.

I'm not exactly sure what would have happened next if the doorbell hadn't rung breaking the tense atmosphere. It was all up in the air now.

We broke apart, Zach reluctantly, but he grasped my hand as we walked towards the front door. And I…I let him.

When we opened the door there were several people standing there, but the one who I dropped Zach's hand for so I could wrap them in a hug was Bex.

"I'm sorry Cammie," she said into my shoulder. We pulled apart. "I'm sorry for not believing you. It's just…complicated." Her voice trailed off and by the look in her eyes I didn't press her on the subject. Whatever her reasons were her secrets to bear. Right now all that mattered was she was here.

She stepped aside and into the apartment letting the way for everyone else. My mom's arms wrapped around me as Macey, Liz, Anna, and Eva walked inside. Anna and Eva looked the same as they did in school, only older and taller. Macey was shooting me a glare as she passed by and I realized she was probably mad at me for escaping her house that night and getting myself captured. Internally I rolled my eyes. That was not my brightest moment.

When my mom's arms loosened around me Aunt Abby came beside her. She was shaking her head at me. "What are we going to do with you squirt?" she asked with lifted eyebrows.

I just smiled sheepishly at her.

They both stepped further into the apartment and Aunt Abby squeezed my shoulder for a second as she passed by.

I looked to see one lonely figure still in the doorway. It was…Grant?

He had the biggest grin on his face shinning underneath his light gray eyes which may have been what gave him away. He seemed to change the most of all of us as strange as it was considering he looked most like an adult the last time I remember seeing him. His hair had grown out and now it was long, and I mean long, almost past his shoulders. He was even taller than before by several inches and his muscles were thicker which may have been due to the tight-fitting sweater he was wearing. Honestly it made me think of him as the hulk with his sweater about to rip open. It was painfully obvious it was too small for him. Was anyone going to tell him that?

"Grant?" I asked the figure, uncertainty filling my voice.

He feigned hurt. "Ah, Cammie, how could you forget me?" Well, his voice hadn't changed. It was still as deep and gruff as it was before.

He walked inside, pulled me into a hug,—making me feel even smaller than before—and ruffled my hair before walking away.

* * *

We all managed to gather around the kitchen table, designed to hold six that now held ten—well, nine I guess since Grant stood leaning against the wall.

So many questions filled my mind that I needed to know the answers. The first question I asked was, "Where is Mr. Jacobson?"

Macey answered while Bex looked off somewhere in the distance. "He disappeared. No one knows where to. It was weeks before you, Zach, Mick, Bex, and the others came back. He just vanished, obviously knowing people we're catching onto what he had been doing. He couldn't hide behind his high status forever. A lot of people are on the case right now in trying to find him including Mr. Solomon and Mick."

I nodded with a blank face. The information didn't calm me in the least. Mr. Jacobson—my former boss who erased my memory causing me to be in this vulnerable, crippling position—was still out in the world. Maybe he was plotting some new attack, a new strategy while we all sat around the table.

The words, my unintentional thoughts, slipped out of my mouth, "What was the point of all this?" I didn't expect anyone to answer me, but to my surprise someone spoke.

"Exactly what we wondering." I looked over at Aunt Abby whose hands were folded in front of her and she was wearing a straight, grim smile.

Eva spoke up, feeling compelled to explain Abby's words. "Cameron it was one thing when these…'experiments' were being performed on normal girls. It was about power, that's understandable, even Mr. Jacobson's part. But adding you into the mix that's where lines and agendas start to become a little unclear." Apparently I was giving her a blank, confused gaze because she quickly added, "You're a spy, a known spy. You weren't an easy target for them. They went through a lot of prep work, as we have discovered, to obtain you and then to erase your memories with it. I…I guess, maybe it would make capturing you easier but either way it was a lot of work for a simple 'experiment' on a spy who many people would go searching for. It doesn't fit."

I narrowed my eyes. "Wait, I thought I lost my memory because I knew too much? Wasn't this whole control chips what I knew too much about, what they were afraid of?"

"It's what we thought in the beginning, but I don't think that's all you knew," Aunt Abby replied. "Joe, Rachel, and I have been going through the files and nothing connects Simon, your director, to this operation, not directly at least. You could have told the agency what was happening and no matter what you said they would never have pinned Simon to this. Heck, we already had been keeping a close eye over that general area and especially on Sai Pastrana. This wasn't exactly news for us. We had a clue of what was happening there, we had for awhile before they sent Zach and Mick to infiltrate which obviously went horribly wrong as Simon probably had planned." Aunt Abby shook her head and looked like she was desperately trying to fit the pieces of the story together, but it wasn't fitting quite right.

"Then what is it I knew that was so dangerous to them?"

"We don't know Cammie." Anna spoke this time. Her voice was still as timid as I remembered and yet it was able to grab everyone's attention. "But there is something bigger going on that we aren't seeing, something that has to deal with you, specifically with you."

It was silent for several minutes as I processed the information. _What could I possibly know to have caused all this?_

I wasn't sure I was going to get the answer to that question anytime soon.

Breaking the silence I asked, "What are they going to do with Jonas?"

Aunt Abby shrugged. "He did create the chip no matter what his intention for it was originally. He'll have to go on trial next week for his actions."

We didn't talk much about the dire events that had occurred or the hazy future. I don't think we could really take much more of it or at least I knew I couldn't.

* * *

Zach and I were alone, once again. My mom was the last one to leave the apartment and the most unwilling. She seemed to be taking this whole ordeal the hardest (maybe even harder than me) and didn't want to let me out of her sight especially with Mr. Jacobson still out there, on the run, and with so many more questions left unanswered. All of which were burning holes into the back of our minds. Answers to why this was happening, and why me?

Still somehow Zach convinced her that I was safe here tonight and that she had no reason to fret because he wasn't going to allow anything to happen.

We were safe.

For now.

I watched from the doorway of the kitchen as Zach was unfolding the blanket and placing it on the couch. He was going back to our original arrangement, where one of us slept on the couch and the other on the bed.

I bit my lip and placed my head against the white panel in thought. Then without letting myself ponder too much over it I walked over to Zach and slipped my hand into his and instantly twining my fingers around his.

Pulling him away from his work he dropped the blanket on the couch and asked, "What is it Cammie?"

I didn't answer him, but just kept pulling him towards the bedroom. If I could just do this before my nerves really started to get to me. He seemed to quickly realize where we were headed and he fell silent, his hand tensed and then relaxed again in mine. I wasn't sure what to make of that.

I pushed the door open and flipped on the light switch releasing his hand in the process.

The room flooded with light and it seemed so much brighter and cooler than before and the bed so much larger and emptier. I could feel my cheeks burning with heat just at the thought of it with Zach standing right behind me watching me with an intense stare, no doubt.

I didn't turn around. I don't think I could have faced him in that moment.

Instead I walked towards the bed and slipped under the covers, tucked away, even though it was far from cold that night. It was hotter than most.

My eyes were closed and I could hear Zach hesitating at the door. I wish I had the strength to tell him to just join me, but I didn't. If I had my memories back it wouldn't have to be this way, it wouldn't have to be so hard.

Closing my eyes tighter I listened. I could hear Zach's footsteps, only they were walking farther away. I rolled to my side, my back to the door, and closed my eyes even tighter to keep tears from spilling over.

_Did he even realize how hard it was for me to guide him here? How vulnerable I just let myself become?_

My breathing hitched on the edge of becoming erratic. I didn't think I could take much more of this life anymore.

Only I could hear Zach's footsteps coming back down the hall, closer and closer to the door. Soon I could hear something light fall to the ground by the door. A blanket, maybe? Darkness fell across the room as the switch was turned off. All followed by ever closer steps and then a sudden shift in the bed.

I kept my eyes closed and my back turned. I was too afraid to open my eyes at this point. For fear of not just finding myself alone because none of this was real, and a result of too much caffeine but also for the tears that were more threatening at this point.

It was silent and dark.

And really hot with all the blankets, I think I might have been sweating at this point.

"Gallagher Girl," I heard Zach whisper in the dark. "Isn't it a little warm for you to be under all those covers?" There seemed to be an undertone in that statement along with something I couldn't put a name to.

I opened my eyes and blinked. I had been holding them closed too tightly.

Rolling over I could see Zach looking at me, watching me, really. I shrugged. "I like being warm," was all I could think of to say.

Giving me a strange look Zach shook his head before falling deeper into his pillow. His eyes closed and his breathing became more even. I watched, unable to look away.

Slowly I slipped from under the covers, unable to take the heat anymore, and then laid on top of the blankets. I scooted closer to Zach and continued to watch him as I couldn't fall asleep.

Zach mumbled and for a second I thought he was awake and was talking to me, telling me to sleep, probably. But no, his eyes were still closed, his breathing steady, and a smile was spreading on his face as he mumbled my name.

I wondered what it was he was dreaming. But then I probably already had a good hunch. It was most likely about his wife who had all her memories, wasn't quite so shy around him, and wasn't in fear of attacks. Because in reality we weren't out of the woods quite yet. But for now we were safe as long as I stayed low, which was another, nicer way of saying I couldn't leave the apartment for any reason. I was under lock down house arrest. I would be stuck here while everybody else was risking their necks to figure out what mess I had gotten myself wound up in.

I sure would like to know. If only there was some way to ask myself, but that feat was impossible, at least for now.

**A/N: Only one more chapter left guys. Can you believe it! I'm so excited to finally have one story on this site be done. But, anyway, review and tell me what you think of the chapter and what you expect is going to happen next in the final chapter.**


	30. Surprise at Home

A/N: Final Chapter with a twist

Chapter 29: Surprise at Home

Zach's POV:

I loved Cameron. I really did. It was just I wished she remembered all the times we had, all the great times. I wanted my old Gallagher Girl, again.

Old Gallagher Girl that probably sounded horrible. It wasn't as if she was no longer Cameron Morgan. She was, only she was just Cameron who didn't have all her memories, who didn't act the way she used to. She couldn't help that.

But…

My phone started to ring. I looked at caller I.D. and saw that it stated home. It had to be Cammie even though she never calls my cell-phone. She used to though, not that she would remember.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Was the apartment in flames? Was there a strange smell coming from outside? Poison? Gas?

There was a quick laugh followed by, "Nothing, Zach. Nothing is wrong. Why would you expect the worse?"

A pause while relief swept through me which told me just how worried I was. Responding I said, "I don't know. Just…never mind. Why did you call?"

"To say good morning, you must have left pretty early this morning. I never saw you. I thought you had the day off today."

Why would she think that? Oh, she must have overhead my conversation with Grant on taking the week off next week. "No, not today, but next week."

"Oh, okay, that's great." There was a pause and I wondered if she was going to hang up now. "Zach," she said taking on a more serious tone. I knew it, something was wrong she wouldn't have called me otherwise. "I have to tell you something."

"What? What is it Cameron? What happened?" There was desperation in my voice, but could you blame me with everything that has happened?

"Zach calm down. Honestly, what's wrong with you? Why are you so tense? You're starting to worry me."

"Sorry," I mumbled. "I'm just on edge with everything that's happened over the past few months."

There was silence. "Umm, what happened?"

What happened? What did she mean what happened?

"With Sai, Cameron, and Mr. Jacobson," I said not sure why she was acting like this. How could she possibly forget about what happened? How could anyone forget?

"Right," she said sounding unsure. "What happened with Mr. Jacobson and who is Sai?"

Who is Sai? Really, how…wait.

"Cameron," I said slowly not believing that this could possibly be true. "What is today's date?"

"August 13, 2017," she stated without missing a beat.

Oh my…was she back? Was my old Cameron actually back?

"Zach," she said worried. "Zach, are you okay? What's the matter?"

I didn't know what to say. Adrenaline was running through my system at just the thought of Cameron remembering, really remembering me, us.

Immediately I was on my feet. "Stay right there Cameron."

"What? Zach what's going on?" She tried to hide the fear in her voice but I could still tell it was there.

As calmly and soothingly as I could I told her, "I'll explain everything, Cammie when I get home, okay. Just stay right where you are and I'll be there in a few minutes." A few minutes might be exaggerating it since traffic was at its worse at this time of day. Of course I could probably run all the way there with the amount of energy I had.

"Okay," Cameron said, confused. "I'll see you in a few. Bye Zach, I love you."

My throat caught. Could it be this easy? Could she really wake up one day and suddenly remember everything she forgot. "I love you too, Gallagher Girl," I said softly. Then we hung up.

I was in my car in a matter of minutes, leaving everyone else in a confused state as I rushed past them. I barely stopped in time at the front desk to tell them I would be clocking out early. When asked why I started to say Cameron and they immediately dismissed me. They didn't seem to care—not at the moment—and it wasn't as if there was a lot of work for me to do for the day. I would mostly have been sitting in my office wishing I was home with my wife, my wife with her memory fully intact.

Getting home took a while with traffic, but soon I was racing up the stairs. Scaring other tenants in my wake and then I was at the door.

When I opened it I could imagine Cameron throwing herself into my arms and kissing me long and hard like she used to do.

My heart raced and then suddenly stopped. Something was wrong.

No…

The door was closed, but not completely shut. Why wasn't it shut and locked? The worse went through my mind.

Taking in a deep breath and trying so hard to come up with any good possibility of what happened to the door I slowly opened it.

I didn't like what I saw.

There in a pool of her own blood, on her stomach, a bullet wound in her head laid Mrs. Huffington.

She was dead, I could already tell. She wasn't the only one though. Two men in black coats lay on the ground as well not moving or breathing holding guns but they were both shot as well.

My stomach clenched as I surveyed the entire room and saw all the bullet holes. There were more than just these two men who had been shooting.

Where was Cameron? Please tell me she wasn't dead.

It took several minutes for me to find enough strength to search the entire apartment. Each turn I waited to see the dead body of my wife. But to my relief and terror I found no other bodies. I found nothing.

Cameron was gone and in her place three bodies lied. I carefully searched the two in black—careful not to leave DNA and disturb they're bodies too much—in order to obtain some information, any of why this happened. But I came up with nothing.

I ran my finger roughly through me hair, unnerved, as I walked out of the apartment and over to the hallway's window.

_Would this have happened if I had been here sooner? _I thought. _What scene would have I stumbled on to then?_

Looking out the window I searched every person who walked by. To see if anyone was suspicious, which none were or if by some strange chance Cameron was one of them. Hiding out in plain sight was one of her trademarks since for her not many people would look at her twice except for the people who really knew, who really saw through the façade.

But she wasn't among the people on the ground.

However something else caught my eye.

Something white that was fluttering and had been jammed in the bottom of the window.

I tugged it out carefully and held out a folded white piece of paper. Carefully I unfolded it. It was the greatest wish I could have been granted as Cameron's handwriting, her old, specific handwriting, stood out against the white background.

I had no idea what the message meant, but it didn't matter. There was hope that she had gotten away from the attack alive and was hiding somewhere and that somewhere was close by. All I had to do now was figure out what the note meant, what was she trying to tell me?

_Out in Sunlight_

**A/N: So as you probably know this was not the initial ending when I started writing this story. I was far into the story when this idea suddenly came to me (in Cameron's POV actually). So tell me what you think of the twist and what you thought about it being in Zach's POV and the only chapter not in Cameron's POV. I thought it would be more exciting and mysterious if it wasn't in Cammie's and in Zach's instead and you get to see a slip of what's been going on through his head through this whole ordeal. I actually think it's better that this chapter is written in Zach's perspective, but maybe that's just me.**


	31. Deleted Scenes

_Deleted Scenes_

While you wait for news of a sequel (and yes, there will be a sequel) here are two deleted scenes of _Dreamless Wake_.

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**The short deleted scene first. This was cut only because I never found a place to fit it in with the actual story.**

_Would I ever remember? Was it possible?_

Our lips met and immediately, knowingly they melted together. It was better than the last remembered kiss I shared with him. It was deeper and sweeter. His tongue already slipped into my mouth. It was a feeling I would never know how to describe.

His right hand rested on the small of my back while his left was on my waist, slowly moving up.

I backed out of the kiss, breathing heavily in the process.

"Cam?" he asked, panting slightly. His eyes were searching my face to see if there was a spark of recognition.

Of course, there wasn't any, because my memory was still the same.

I let out a sigh and in the sigh tumbled out the words, "I'm sorry." I was looking away from him catching my breath in the process.

Zach's fingers rested under my chin as he pulled my gaze back towards him. "Don't be sorry. You can't control this."

"Yeah…but…Zach, what if I never remember?"

"Then you never remember, life goes on and sometimes the process sucks."

It wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear, but somehow I felt slightly better.

"You know I should be quoted," Zach said with a smile.

"What, that life goes on and sometimes the process sucks. Yes, how very inspiring to people," I replied rolling my eyes.

He gave a one-arm shrug. "Well, you can't say it isn't true."

And he was absolutely right I couldn't because the facts were life always went on even though there were times it sucked more than anything. Except that time was not now I decided as I stared into his emerald green eyes. At the moment if this was as good as life could get then I was perfectly okay with it.

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**This scene I wrote awhile back and decided I didn't want it in the story (it was going too far). I wrote it so far back that the character you guys know as Sai didn't have his name yet. So throughout this scene Sai is referred to as 'he'. (I was too lazy to go and put his name in.)**

**Oh and this scene is rated for major T for content. You have been warned.**

"You wouldn't dare," I said through clenched teeth. The only parts of my body I didn't have control over was my legs and arms. They felt pinned down as if there was a heavy pressure on them. Everything else however I could move, for now.

He just laughed at me, not taking me serious for one moment. But then how could he when he was the one in control, literally. One press of a button and he could make me do anything and there was nothing I could do about it, nothing yet.

_Take one step near me and I'll bite you hard enough to draw blood._

"Oh, Cameron, how hopeful you can still be. You have so much spirit still in you. I will be enjoying that all the way until it disappears and then…well…I think you understand what will happen." He winked at me making my stomach churned.

They weren't going to keep me alive. They were going to use me for pleasure, for their own selfish wishes. I was an experiment. No, I was a practice toy and what did you do with old toys, the toys that didn't have value to you. You got rid of them one way or another.

He was closer to me and if he were inches closer I could lean my neck up quickly and bite hard on his arm. It may not do anything for me in the long run—it may hurt more than help—but it would certainly make me feel better.

With a switch that shattered that hopeful idea. Now I really couldn't move anything, not even my eyes anymore. I was stuck starring at the ceiling until _he _decided otherwise.

_I'm helpless. I'm helpless beyond belief._ I felt like crying and the fact that I knew I couldn't made the feeling grow stronger. _Please, help, someone._

There was a gentle touch on my cheekbone, but it was anything but soft. The hands were rough and cold. Almost as if he stuck his hand under the cold faucet too long.

The bed creaked but there was no shift in position. He was leaning over it. There was a touch to my neck. Lips. No! _No!_ Think of something, anything you can get out of this. You have to.

I was desperate and I was stuck and then I was in pain. Teeth had come out; it wasn't anything too pointy they felt like regular teeth. The bite felt hard enough to leave a hickey, which may be exactly what he wanted. It would show…possession, ownership.

"Now," his said, his voice came beside my ear. At least his mouth was away from my neck. "Let's have some fun. I'll let you go first." If I could have shivered it would be right then.

My eyes could move again and I blinked from dryness. I felt control over my fingers. Relief started to come over me but it was quenched when my body started to rise not from my own free will.

I was a sitting position and my hands were reaching up automatically. Still I had no control over my movements. I was a passenger in my own body along for the ride and not having a clue what turn would be made next.

A button was felt under my fingers, the top one. It was undone quickly and my fingers just stayed there on top in wait. I starred over at him with the coldest gaze I could ever give. He smiled a cruel smile.

"Would you mind if we take things slow?" he asked me. As if I had a choice and if I could open my mouth I would yell that out at him, but of course that was clenched shut. "Or do you prefer fast?" My hands practically started ripping the buttons from the shirt. I watched him with his controller as he pressed and shifted the buttons with ease. A sly grin settling over his face when the last button was done and my hands rested on either side of me.

He placed the controller down on a table and he looked at me, studied me with an appreciative, unpleasant gaze.

My shirt was still on hanging on my shoulders and my bra was still intact. A feeling inside told me that wasn't going to last long.

Picking up the controller he threw it gently on the bed right beside me. _Right beside me._ My fingers were able to feel the hard stainless steel. All the control, all the power over myself was at my fingertips. Yet I couldn't do one single thing about it. It was cruel and by his smile I knew he threw it there on purpose. To let me feel the control while I could do nothing about it.

The bed shifted this time as he sat by my side. He leaned in his lips were on mine in seconds and one hand in my hair. He was kissing me but I wasn't kissing him back I couldn't nor did I want to.

His other hand flicked the shirt off my shoulder so it slid down my arm being even more revealing. His hand reached over my side working the controller and my lips started moving.

He wasn't looking at it. Still he could control what he wanted. He didn't have to see it; it was memorized in his brain, all the buttons and all the switches. But maybe, if I'm lucky, he'll miss or not think straight and press the wrong button.

I wasn't that lucky yet. He had thrown my shirt over the bed and then he opened, tugged, and pulled my jeans off letting them fall to the floor. All the while I lied on my back with no movement and emotions raw.

There was pressure on top of me and his lips were back on my neck. Kissing, nipping, and biting which would leave marks later. I felt his hand to my side and then behind my back.

_Oh, god, no, no, no!_

The clasp on my bra echoed in my ears as loud as the sound of a bomb. His hand came out from underneath as he lifted his head and looked down at me. His hand stroked my face, leaving chills in its wake. Through it all I remained motionless. "Cameron, trust me when I tell you this. You'll be screaming in pleasure soon from someone who knows how to do it right."

My mouth was released and for a second there was pain from it being forced closed this long. Then in a loud whisper I said, "Go to hell."

"Gladly, while bringing you down with me." My bra was thrown too over the bed. Hitting the floor it sounded like a siren to me.

For three seconds, three short glorious seconds, he was no longer on me. The only reason was because he had taken his jeans and boxers off. He left his shirt on and I still had my own underwear on.

He was back on me and I could feel much more than I wanted. His head went back to my neck. _Move just a few inches to the left, just a few. _He started kissing up and closer to the left reaching my ear. He started moving towards my cheek. His face brushed my mouth and then I clamped down, hard.

He yelped but I didn't let go, willingly. My mouth snapped open, wide open, as he held the remote in his hand. His other hand went straight to his cheek. There was a cut and it was bleeding and if I could smile I would have. It may have gotten me nowhere but it sure felt great.

"You little…" He didn't finish the sentence. There was anger in his face that slowly simmered down. His face twisted into cruelty. My mouth snapped down. "So you like it rough?"

He flipped a switch and I felt electricity shooting through my body. A scream stifled in my locked tight mouth. _It's not real, Cammie. You aren't being electrocuted. It's only in your mind._

It didn't matter.

"How much pain do you enjoy, Morgan?" he asked watching the pain in my eyes with glee. Moments later my underwear hit the floor and I wanted to scream for two reasons.

It was two minutes he let me feel the electricity before he released me. Well, only from the electricity torture. There was a whole new torture as my body moved with its own accords by directions not given from me. This was a different kind of torture one he didn't let me scream from.

Then my heart shattered when I heard a broken, defeated voice. "Cammie!"

Zach…_oh no, Zach!_

"Looks like the cat is out of the bag," he pants out with a grin. I wanted nothing more than to slap it off.

For a moment all Zach is able to do is stand there and stare at me. I knew how I looked to him flushed and a look of pleasure on my face. It wasn't in my control the remote was under the pillow now along with his hand.

Zach didn't notice all he noticed was me. In a second his wedding band was off and thrown to the floor. He left in a rush out the door without speaking another word.

I lied there because there was nothing I could do, literally. I wanted to run. I wanted to scream. _Zach! Help! Please!_ But of course that wasn't going to happen and he just went back to what we were doing as if nothing happened as if it didn't matter.

My emotions became numb because that was the only way I would survive another minute of this.


	32. Sequel

_Sequel?_

_(Warning: This is going to be a long Authors Note, so sit back and relax)_

Well guys that is the end of the story. The first story I have actually completed on this fanfiction site. *takes break to let out a scream* I am so excited about that as you can tell! Now, if I could just finish the other stories…Alright, now before I get into talking about the sequel I just wanted to give a shout-out as well as a thanks to Miss Charz who recommended this story. I'm stunned and pleased when I read about her recommendation in one of the reviews. And I would also like to thank everyone else who reviewed for this story, because if it weren't for you I never would have finished this story (seriously, no reviews means no motivation resulting in no finished story).

Now with the last chapter I left you all at a cliffhanger. I know you are all probably excited that Cameron finally has her memory back. And in case some of you were confused by the ending this is what happened: Cammie woke up that day and she had her memory back from a week or so before she was given a shot to erase her memories and when she was locked up. So she doesn't understand that Mr. Jacobson, her boss, is not one of the good guys or that he's gone. Because when she did receive her memory back everything that happened after her memory was gone—for her—doesn't exist, she doesn't remember any of it, which may or may not cause some problems. Hopefully that cleared things up and didn't just make you even more confused than before.

Okay, now, about a sequel to the story. For starters there is going to be one, but as for when I'm going to start posting the sequel that is really up in the air at the moment. I have parts of it started, but with everything that is going on with my own life I don't have much time to work on it. So for right now don't expect the story to be posted this year but maybe in the early months of next year.

Now what can I tell you would happen in the sequel? Since I'm sure you want to know.

Hmmm, there will be more action I think starting at the very beginning of the story. Now that Cameron has her memory back she's older and much more knowledgeable and, well, someone is chasing her which helps the action situation. There will also be more Zammie since Cammie remembers Zach as her husband, once that is to say, they get back together in the story. I will tell you that it won't be completely lovey, dovey there will be fights that happen which will hopefully thicken the story.

_Summary for Sequel_

Sequel to Dreamless Wake: Cammie has finally woken up from her memory loss state. Now there's just one problem, she doesn't remember anything that happened in the past few months. Oh, and then there's just the small problem of being chased after and sought to be killed part. But that's all part of the normal life of a spy, right?

Note: This summary will probably be changed and chopped up when the time comes to actually post the sequel, but the concept will be the same.

I think I have the title for the sequel, but I'm curious, as always, in knowing what you guys think it might be. So if you have ideas of what it might be feel free to add it to your review. And who knows, maybe I might like your title better I'm still not a hundred percent sold on mine.

(Hint: The title I have in mind is similar to the title _Dreamless Wake _since I do really love that title. If you go on a search engine and type it in one of the chapters for the story will pop up on the page, which I think is completely awesome!)

_Sneak Peak of Sequel_

_(My early Christmas Present for you readers)_

"Cameron," he said with a slow smile. "What a pleasure it is to finally see you again." His eyes glistened. "Especially on my terms now."

"Yes, well [...] we would have to meet up again at some time. We have a lot to catch up on," I said, my voice smooth and distant.

All light left his eyes as he glared down at me. "No, we don't and we won't." He glanced over at his soldiers who surrounded us with guns raised. "Shoot them both. I want them dead, especially her."

Okay, so that's it, see you guys sometime next year. Bye!


End file.
